EA Purchases PopCap, Expands Casual Games Division

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EA Purchases PopCap, Expands Casual Games Division

Post by Steve Farrelly @ 12:38pm 13/07/11 | 8 Comments

EA's moves to once again rule the videogame roost are slowly coming to fruition, especially with today's announcement that they've acquired mobile and casual game developer, PopCap, developers behind such casual gaming sensations as Bejeweled and Plants vs. Zombies, among many, many more.

The deal is worth some US $750 million, apparently, and is expected to solidify EA's financial future in the face of troubling console sales. It's also suggested they'll leverage the studio's casual development expertise to take a number of core EA titles to social media markets.

"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 $1bn 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 PopCap CEO, David Roberts. "By working with EA, we'll scale our games and services to deliver more social, mobile, casual fun to an even bigger, global audience."

Click here or on the image to see what PopCap's Zombies had to say about the acquisition.

popcap ea mobile casual games bejeweled plants vs zombies acquisition

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d^
Posted 01:00pm 13/7/11

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, there goes another great company swallowed up by EA.

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Twisted
Posted 01:44pm 13/7/11

Fail for consumers...win for popcap games...death of all their titles.

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Steve Farrelly
Posted 02:12pm 13/7/11

Can any of you tell me what EA has done wrong lately?

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glynd
Posted 02:19pm 13/7/11

Origin mainly.

Game wise? nothing really. I actually love a lot of EA's releases.

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Steve Farrelly
Posted 02:22pm 13/7/11

I'd argue that this will only push PopCap's games into other consumers' hands. I'd also definitely argue on the side with glynd here, Origin appears to be their only odd step in recent times, otherwise the EA Partners program, their support of Free-To-Play, giving DICE all the money and support they needed to development of Frostbite 2.0 and their general enthusiasm for new, original IPs and creative freedom really tell me they're actually one of the most mature publishers in the industry right now

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d^
Posted 02:35pm 13/7/11

Lately? not much besides this I guess. But in the past they've destroyed great franchises and game series such as Westwood and the Command and Conquer series.

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