Electronic Arts’ spending spree continues as the mega-publisher takes up the popular social gaming company Playfish for a cool $275 million. Rumored last month in various reports, EA confirmed the announcement yesterday, elaborating on an additional $25 million in equity retention arrangements. Playfish is a world-wide development in the social gaming sphere, with over 150 unique titles spread across various platforms like Facebook, the iPhone, and Google, with an estimated combined user base of 60 million.
“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. “EAi 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.”