EA spent $21 million trying to buy Take-Two

You probably all know that EA just reported dismal earnings, announcing it will lay off six percent of its staff in the face of rising costs and the economic slowdown. CEO John Riccitiello cited a "slow down at retail in October" and CFO Eric Brown said "retail traffic is down in general." All signs are that while the videogame biz continues to grow strongly and is recession resistant, it's definitely not recession proof. Which is bad news for those who thought videogames are a totally safe place to ride out the economic storm.

For all the details on EA's disappointing earnings, which sent shares tumbling 14% in after-hours trading, check out my story here.

One interesting footnote came in the list of EA's rising expenses. Marketing costs were up 20% last quarter from a year ago and R&D shot up 44%. But there was also $21 million worth of spending in a category that didn't even exist last year: "Certain abandoned acquisition-related costs."

Translation: EA spent a bunch of money on lawyers and financial advisors in its failed pursuit of Take-Two Interactive. Remember when Riccitiello said that the seven month process of trying and failing and trying and failing to buy "Grand Theft Auto" publisher Take-Two was "a waste of ink?" Apparently it was a waste of something else too.