VU Games not for sale--for now

Wednesday, General Electric's acquisition of Vivendi Universal's entertainment assets was finalized, creating the new media powerhouse NBC Universal. But apparently there's no room in the $13 billion giant for VU Games, which was retained by Vivendi. "Vivendi Universal Games was not included in the NBC-Vivendi Universal transaction and remains a member of the Vivendi Universal group," said a company spokesman.

Chief operating officer Jean-Bernard Levy told Reuters that Vivendi actively shopped the publisher around. "Obviously we put it up for sale," Levy said. The report went on to say that VU Games was being offered for $800 million but could find no buyers. "We went outside," said Levy, "found it was very cold, and we decided to close the door and stay back inside. That's where we are today."

Safe for now, VU Games will focus on the upcoming quarter, according to Levy. "This is a seasonal business," he said, perhaps referring to VU's large holiday roster, which includes The Lord of the Rings: War of the Ring and Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel.

Unfortunately, the only holiday the company's hotly anticipated title Half-Life 2 is likely to make is April Fools' Day.