Whispering Halts as Ubisoft and EA Actually Talk

Ubisoft and Electronic Arts finally sat down to talk earlier this week, ending a month of hostilities and beginning what looks set to emerge as a process of co-operation.

The latest chapter in the saga comes after EA snaffled up around 20% of the French publisher on the 20th December last year.
Just two days later, Ubisoft went on record to state that it views EA’s interest in its operations as hostile. Since that point, a tense stand-off has been in place.

Meanwhile the French government looked set to bail out Ubisoft, though to date nothing has come of this.

It is thought likely that EA will have rolled out its big guns in a charm offensive aimed at forging a more co-operative partner from the disgruntled (and newest) object of its affections.

"I would not say there's negotiations taking place, but we are having the kind of dialogue that you would expect of a large shareholder with the company," said Jeff Brown, a spokesman Electronic Arts.

Neither company gave any clear indication as to how talks had progressed or how they would be moving forward in the future.

As ever, we’ll keep you posted.