EA wanted to pay over $1 billion for Valve, says report

According to a report published today in the New York Times, Electronic Arts offered more than a billion dollars in an attempted buyout of Valve, but was ultimately turned down by the PC gaming company.

The sources asked to remain nameless, but both confirmed that EA had made a billion dollar pass at the Half-Life, Portal, Team Fortress, Dota 2, Counter-Strike, Left 4 Dead and Steam creator. Valve figurehead Gabe Newell was quoted as saying he'd rather let the company disintegrate over time than sell out to a mega corporation. 

“It’s way more likely we would head in that direction than say, 'Let’s find some giant company that wants to cash us out and wait two or three years to have our employment agreements terminate'.”

There is no word on when this attempted buyout may have taken place, but Valve is apparently currently valued at $2.5 billion. Which seems to indicate this was an event that took place some time ago before Steam became such a runaway success. It's possible (though entirely speculation) that EA sought to buyout the market leader in PC digital distribution before developing their own solution, Origin. 

Source : gamesradar[dot]com

L.A. Noire Dev's New Game is Next-Gen

L.A. Noire developer Team Bondi, reborn after a timely buyout, has announced that its next game – Whore of the Orient – is being developed for the next-generation of home consoles and PC.

The developer's website has now gone live, revealing some new details about the game. The site contains a single image depicting a scene from a Chinese apartment and a man sweeping up in the background. And it's clear from the mood-setting snippet of prose posted on the site that the city of Shanghai will play a strong role in the game. The text reads:

"Shanghai, 1936. Whore of the Orient. Paris of the East. The most corrupt and decadent city on the planet, where anything can be had or done for the right price. Plaything of Western powers who greedily exploit the Chinese masses. Boiling pot of Chinese nationalism, with the Kuomintang ruthlessly trying to suppress Communism and the labour movement. Home to the International Police Force, a group of Western cops hopelessly trying to keep the lid on and keep the peace."

Brendan McNamara, writer and director of The Getaway and L.A. Noire, previously said that the team's next game will be "one of the great untold stories of the 20th Century."

Team Bondi is actively recruiting for the project which will be published by Warner Bros, with the site advertising several roles in the programming, animation, art, and design departments.

Team Bondi went into liquidation late last year, with many of the company's assets and staff being acquired by Academy award winning production team of Kennedy Miller Mitchell, responsible for the Mad Max and Happy Feet films.

Daniel Krupa is IGN's UK Staff Writer. You can be part of the world's worst cult by following him on IGN and Twitter.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com