EA Buys Bejeweled-Maker PopCap In Deal Worth Up To $1.3 Billion

donniebaseball23 writes "Weeks ago, rumors were that Electronic Arts had stepped up to the plate to buy mobile/casual gaming publisher PopCap, developer of titles such as Bejeweled and Plants vs Zombies. Today, EA has confirmed that it has purchased PopCap for a final sum of $650 million and $100 million in shares of EA common stock. There's also the possibility for up to $550 million in earn-outs for hitting 2013 financial milestones. That would bring the price to a whopping $1.3 billion. '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.'" More broadly, EA's plan for PopCap is: "don't break it."

Comments

Good for Pop-Cap

[geekoid]

they deserve it..bad for consumers. EA will break it.

First they will restrict new games to origins.
Second they will increase fee for distribution rights
Third, they will over think it
Fifth, managers from EA will flock to be tied to this success. Once they ahe enought time in, they will flee.

That's how I'm calling it.

OTOH, I can wait for Plants V. zombie madden 2012; Plants V. zombie madden 2013; Plants V. zombie madden 2014, and so on.

Re:Good for Pop-Cap

[brim4brim]

EA only pursued the new IP line because people stopped buying their iteration titles. They said it at a meeting with their shareholders demanding answers for falling profits about a year or two before Mirror's Edge was released. Games like The Sims and Simcity were created by Maxis and published in endless iterations with mostly just new content and a bit of polish on the graphics for years. Seriously, what EA did with these IP's is nothing the community wouldn't have done if they had opened the games up to modding like other gaming companies such as Valve. Just look at the user created items in TF2 or mods for things like Doom 3 or even the original Doom where almost every texture in the game is reworked and often new weapons/models added because the people playing the game enjoy making them. EA's strategy is milk it until it stops producing milk then slaughter it. It is easy to claim all companies want to do this but there are some out there that aren't quite so hardcore in this approach and support their communities in order to ensure they are on board for their next game as a strategy to maximise their bottom lines in a way in which the community and the company both win.

Re:Good for Pop-Cap

[artor3]

They won't necessarily break it.

Sure, they broke Bullfrog, maker of classics like Populous and Theme Park and Syndicate.
And they turned the innovative Maxis into a factory for churning out neighbor-killing simulations.
And they killed Westwood, creators of the wildly successful Command & Conquer franchise.
And they wrecked multiple Ultima titles after acquiring Origin.

But Bioware's been doing okay under them, so far. So maybe there's hope?

Re:Good for Pop-Cap

[SQL Error]

There is no Dragon Age 2.

Re:Good for Pop-Cap

[artor3]

The original Dragon Age was already under EA, so you can't really blame them for problems in the second.

Re:Good for Pop-Cap

[mattventura]

And what did EA add to those games? My guess: DRM and monetization. I remember when game publishers actually contributed to a game rather than just slapping their name and some copy protection on it.

sounds pretty awesome

[v1]

I'm a throwback to when EA was making games for me on my Apple //c. Back in the day they ruled the roost for awesome games. I don't know if they were making most of them in-house or were just buying and slapping their logo on them, but almost every one of them was a winner.

More broadly, EA's plan for PopCap is: "don't break it."

Sounds like a good idea. Hopefully they intend to apply more PopCap to EA, than EA to PopCap. Usually the other way around spells disaster. IMHO EA is on the decline because they've lost touch with their customers. PopCap on the other hand, has a firm grip on that magic in today's market. That's where EA stands to benefit the most from with this move.

Re:sounds pretty awesome

[Elbereth]

Back in those days, Trip Hawkins was the CEO. He left in the early 90s, to found 3DO (which wasn't nearly as successful, to put it lightly). Unfortunately, after Trip Hawkins left, the company became quite a bit less creative, efficiently pumping out sequels to highly derivative games and buying smaller studios (and usually ruining them). I'll always remember the great EA games of the 80s fondly, but it's difficult to see how they're even remotely related to that company today. Hopefully, PopCap will fair better than Origin and Maxis, but I kind of doubt it. Actually, since I intensely dislike most social/casual games, I don't care, but it'd be nice to see someone actually flourish under the EA banner, for once. It's a shame that Trip Hawkins left the company, but it's hard to argue with their bottom line: EA is huge and highly profitable, despite their poor reputation among many gamers.

Interesting bit of trivia: Trip Hawkins was actually an early Apple employee.

Re:sounds pretty awesome

[ConaxConax]

Dracula?

PopCap sells soul for $1.3B

[xMrFishx]

Cow being prepared for milking.

Ohhhh can't wait!

[failedlogic]

By this time next year.... "EA announces today the release of a new Plants* vs Zombies* game"

* Plants and Zombies not included. Must purchase as a DLC.

They will break it.

[MrEricSir]

EA breaks everything they touch -- Westwood, Bullforg, Origin... even Maxis.

Given EA's track record, PopCap doesn't stand a chance.

Re:They will break it.

[keith_nt4]

Didn't EA and Bioware merge...ahh damn it

Re:They will break it.

[artor3]

EA bought Origin midway through development of VII.

VIII and IX were notably worse than the previous titles (a quick look at ratings online has VII at 8.8 and IX at 6.5). The series died after that. Or more accurately, was zombified, with EA closing the studio and making browser-based Ultima titles.

Re:Can anyone else say "sell out"

[rotide]

If you ran a casual game company and someone offered to pay $1,300,000,000 for your company, would you not sell out? I would, in a heartbeat. Then I'd start another business and enjoy life without ever worrying about money again. (yes, I know it doesn't all go to one guy, and yes I also know that the heads of the company probably already didn't need more money, but the point still stands, over a BILLION dollars!)

Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia?

[decora]

no no. he died in the 1400s... hrm.

well, i'm afraid to admit. you have stumped me, sir. good show! jolly good.