Take-Two Interactive Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) rejected a $2 billion unsolicited offer from Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS), setting the stage for a confrontation between the two companies that would rival any video game. Electronic Arts, the world's largest video game publisher, said it plans to take its $26 per share offer directly to shareholders. Shares of the developer of the "Grand Theft Auto" franchise soared in premarket trading.

Take-Two had previously rejected a $25 per share offer from EA, leading the company to raise the offer by $1 and make it public, hoping that shareholders would be more receptive than the company's board/management. The offer is 64% higher than the Feb. 15 closing price of Take-Two's stock, the last day of trading before it was made.

In a letter, Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello said that "There can be no certainty that in the future EA or any other buyer would pay the same high premium we are offering today." Take-Two's response was strange. Chairman Strauss Zelnick told Bloomberg News that although the offer undervalues Take-Two, he's willing to talk to Electronic Arts after releasing the next "Grand Theft Auto'' at the end of April.