But for several years, E.A. has been facing criticisms that it is not doing enough to create new hit games. Its new chief executive, John Riccitiello, has vowed to turn that around and, indeed, the company says it has more new titles coming out this year than at any time in its history.

The Take Two bid has analysts asking whether E.A. is having so much trouble building new hits on its own that it must spend $2 billion for someone else’s ideas. To some, it suggests that the company faces more challenges in developing new hit games than it has let on.

“The proposed acquisition of Take Two now opens the possibility that it comes from a place of weakness, which is a very different message than Electronic Arts has sent to the Street in the last month,” said Evan Wilson, an industry analyst with Pacific Crest Securities, who has a hold rating on the shares of Take Two.

Daniel Ernst, an analyst with Soleil Hudson Square Research who has a $30 price target on Take Two’s stock, said Electronic Arts could sorely use the new intellectual property. He said that during the fiscal year ending next month, the video game industry will have grown 51 percent on a global basis, while E.A. will have grown only 25 percent. Moreover, he argued, E.A. has had trouble developing breakaway hits and the quality of the company’s new games has consistently lagged behind that of other publishers.

“They haven’t created new franchises that bring new customers to them,” he said.

Take Two has balked at E.A.’s $26-a-share offer, even though it is a 50 percent premium over the stock’s closing price Friday of $17 a share. Its executives said they would not even enter negotiations until April 29  the date of the release of Grand Theft Auto IV, the next iteration of the company’s crown jewel.