Rough-and-tumble tactics are common in popular videogames like Electronic Arts Inc.’s Madden NFL. Now the company has launched a blitz against one of its top competitors, the Wall Street Journal rerpots.

EA made an unsolicited $2 billion cash offer to buy Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., publisher of the hit Grand Theft Auto videogame, in the latest sign of consolidation in the games business.

EA, of Redwood City, Calif., yesterday said it was making public an offer of $26 a share for Take-Two after that company’s board last week rejected the proposal as insufficient. Take-Two swiftly reiterated its negative opinion of the transaction.

The offer is a 50% premium over the closing price of Take-Two’s shares Friday. EA said it was a 63% premium over Take-Two’s average share price in the 30 trading days preceding Feb. 15, the last trading day before EA made its $26 a share offer.

The move comes at a time when one of EA’s closest rivals, Activision Inc., is merging with the games unit of Vivendi SA to create Activision Blizzard Inc., a powerhouse with properties spanning the Guitar Hero series of music games to the hit online title, World of Warcraft. The consolidation of bigger players may put further pressure on smaller game developers to sell out to big entities, including media companies that are upping their investments in games.

EA’s action follows an even bigger bid by Microsoft Corp. for Yahoo Inc., continuing a new trend of unsolicited offers in the maturing tech sector. Such companies had long stuck to negotiated acquisitions, on the theory that unfriendly transactions could spur the departure of talented engineers and programmers that were seen as key assets of target companies.

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