Electronic Arts spends $300 million to buy social network games developer Playfish
EA has bought Playfish for $300 million. Playfish is known as a leader in the industry of social network videogames and Electronic Arts is planning to use this acquisition to strengthen their “focus on the transition to digital and social gaming”.
Playfish will be absorbed into EA Interactive as a separate division that will focus exclusively on creating games for not only social networking web-sites but also for mobile devices.
Here is the press release explanation:
EA has acquired Playfish for approximately US$275 million in cash and approximately $US25 million in equity retention arrangements. In addition, the sellers are entitled to additional variable cash consideration, up to a maximum of US$100 million, contingent upon the achievement of certain performance milestones through December 31, 2011.
“Social gaming, with its emphasis on friends and community, is seeing tremendous growth and this is the right time to invest to strengthen our participation in this space,” said Barry Cottle, Senior Vice President and General Manager of EA Interactive. “EA has been successfully leading the charge for EA, and with the addition of proven expertise from Playfish, their broad consumer base and strong game brands, we’re moving ahead aggressively in our plans to lead in the category of cross-platform social entertainment.”
“The industry is undergoing dramatic transformation and joining EA is the ideal opportunity for us to push forward our goals to lead in the social entertainment evolution on a faster and much larger scale,” said Kristian Segerstrale, CEO and Co-founder of Playfish. “EAi’s vision and entrepreneurial culture are consistent with our own, and together, we are in position to be the company that defines new and innovative connected experiences that will change the way people play games.”
Playfish is one of the world’s largest and most respected social gaming companies with more than 150 million games installed and played worldwide on platforms such as Facebook, MySpace, Google, Bebo, iPhone and Android. Playfish currently has over 60 million monthly active players across its ten titles – including Facebook hits Pet Society, Restaurant City, and Country Story – driving more than 1 billion game play sessions every month.
10 November 2009 10:49mcjakeqcool
Proof that the recision is over!
I don’t know about that one Jake, it might just be that because of the recession stock prices are at an all-time low. But you’re right in that companies like EA are thinking it’s the perfect time to pick up a “steal”. Kind of like how Warren Buffett bought American Railroads for $27 billion. It seems like a lot, but most companies are worth now a fraction of what they were valued at a year ago.
