Over half a year after Electronic Arts started its campaign to take over Take-Two Interactive, the world's largest game publisher has terminated its bid and ended all discussion with the NYC-based publisher.

With titles ranging from Bioshock and Civilization Revolution to the blockbuster Grand Theft Auto IV, it isn't hard to understand why the publishing giant would want Take-Two. But after months of bids being rejected by Take-Two's shareholders, EA decided it was time to move on.

Both companies released statements regarding the bid termination, with EA's statement coming first. "While EA continues to have a high regard for Take-Two's creative teams and products, after careful consideration, including a management presentation and review of other due diligence materials provided by Take-Two Interactive Software, EA has decided not to make a proposal to acquire Take-Two and has terminated discussions with Take-Two."

"EA is tracking toward a record breaking year," said John Riccitiello, CEO of EA, in a press statement. "We're launching 15 new games including award-winners like Spore, Dead Space and Mirror's Edge, great new titles from the Sims, new family titles with Hasbro, and the highest quality slate of EA Sports titles on this generation of consoles. We're also expanding beyond our core business with a series of direct-to-consumer launches including Warhammer Online."

Meanwhile, Take-Two's Chairman Strauss Zelnick's response was in tune with the company's stance throughout the entire ordeal. "We remain focused on creating value for our stockholders and our consumers. This has been our goal since EA launched its conditional and unsolicited bid six months ago, a bid which was repeatedly rejected by our stockholders," he said in a press statement.

While it's always nice to see smaller (relative to EA) publishers stay independent, the offer made by EA wasn't necessarily undervaluing Take-Two. The first two offers of $25 and $26 per share were over 60 percent higher than the price of Take-Two's stock, and both were also all-cash proposals. In addition, Take-Two's stock price has fallen approximately 25 percent to around $16.57 (at press time).

While Take-Two has scared off EA, Strauss did say in his statement that "we remain actively engaged in discussions with other parties in the context of our formal process to consider strategic alternatives. We're especially proud of the success we've enjoyed over the past eighteen months and we remain confident in our ability to generate value for stockholders." So a future with Take-Two under the wing of some larger sugar-daddy publisher is not completely out of the question. But for now Take-Two remains its own entity.

With EA now out of the picture, a new slew of problems has emerged for Take-Two. While gamers around the world may be breathing a sigh of relief, Wall Street was not so forgiving. Take-Two saw it stock drop almost $6 when the news hit the market today, ending up at $16.57, down from it's early June high of $27.65.

If trouble on Wall Street wasn't enough, Take-Two may find itself in a bidding war for two of its most treasured employees, Sam and Dan Houser. The brothers, who signed a three year contract with Take-Two in February 2006, may head for greener pastures unless Take-Two offers them a bigger salary. "In trying to calculate the sustainable earnings [for Take-Two], we must address the risk of losing key talent," said Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter. "The brothers are the driving force behind the Grand Theft Auto series, and are intimately involved in game decisions. While neither writes game code, we believe that they are analogous to the director of a Hollywood film, instrumental in determining the final shape of the ultimate games released. We expect a bidding war for the Housers' services in February 2009, and remain convinced that Take-Two faces two equally unpalatable options: either lose the Housers to another bidder, or pay more to retain them."

It certainly seems like Take-Two Interactive has some uncertain times ahead of them. By early 2009, we should have a clear picture of what the company's future will be, and who it will include.