A friend once told me that, from EA's point of view, buying a well known company and ruining its IPs is actually lucrative. As they see it, consumers don't think about designers (except in rare instance, such as Sid Meier or Will Wright) or gameplay. Instead, they think about brand names and intellectual properties. Having the x-com brand is much more important, at least for big companies like EA, than having a good turn based combat.
So, if they drive a company's name into the ground and ruin the brand name of its titles, it is ok, because it is still better than having to compete with that company. Even if the important employees are fired and then reform into another company, they still will lack access to their original brands (company name and game names), which companies like EA see as crucial. Their objective is to leave popular brands out of the hands of small studios.