EA buys PopCap Games for $1 billion

[hippie_hunter]

Electronic Arts is in the Plants Vs. Zombies business it seems, announcing today that they have picked up PopCap Games for what could total more than one billion in cash and stock.

"EA and PopCap are a compelling combination," said EA CEO John Riccitiello. "PopCap's great studio talent and powerful IP add to EA's momentum and accelerate our drive towards a $1 billion digital business. EA's global studio and publishing network will help PopCap rapidly expand their business to more digital devices, more countries, and more channels."


"We picked EA because they have recast their culture around making great digital games," said David Roberts, CEO of PopCap. "By working with EA, we'll scale our games and services to deliver more social, mobile, casual fun to an even bigger, global audience."


PopCap games has more than 150 million games installed and played worldwide on everything from Google and Facebook to the iPhone and Android. The purchase gives Electronic Arts a chance to dive deeper into digital platforms, something that made up about 80 percent of PopCap's revenue last calendar year.


Popular PopCap games include Plants Vs. Zombies, Bejeweled , Peggle and Zuma.


What does this mean for Peggle World of Warcraft Edition? When can we expect Battlefield Bookworm? These questions and more will (hopefully) be answered during an EA investor's call this evening.

Good acquisition for EA IMO

 

[Soapy]

A necessary one at any rate.

Riccitiello is betting a lot on Battlefield 3 and especially The Old Republic (the rumored budget for TOR is astronomical), and if those games don't hit the way EA needs them to, they're going to need someone who can pump out cheap, highly profitable games like Popcap.

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

I look forward to a bunch of exclusive pre-order incentives and future games being missing from steam.