I heard about this on Attack of the Show last night.
RUMOR: GamePro reported that Microsoft plans to acquire Epic Games for $1 billion US this summer, after the acquisition Microsoft can also earn licensing fee from Unreal Engine 3.
I know it is just a rumor but it could be big if it is true.
Here is a link to the rumor on Magic Box
http://www.the-magicbox.com/gaming.htm
Sorry if this has been posted before but I did a search and found no threads on this.