August 18, 2008 3:21PM

Electronic Arts vs. Take-Two Interactive

By Alexis Glick

On this week’s edition of America’s Greatest Business Rivals, we threw a curve ball. We took a look at Electronic Arts versus Take-Two Interactive, despite Electronic Arts’ offer to buy Take-Two for $25.74 per share or $2 billion.

I know, I know… if you’re a gamer, you think the real rivalry exists between Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts, but, if the deal doesn’t go through, will they become stronger competitors? The deal is set to expire at midnight this evening.

At this point, the deal is off the table according to Take-Two, although over the weekend Take-Two agreed to show some private presentations of non-public information to Electronic Arts. Almost everyone I talk to says Take-Two would like to do a deal, but feels they deserve a richer premium. See what Matt Vella of BusinessWeek and Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan Securities had to say about that and the future of gaming for both companies.