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

Posted by Soulskill on from the don't-break-it dept.

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."

9 of 104 comments (clear)

  1. Good for Pop-Cap by geekoid · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    1. Re:Good for Pop-Cap by artor3 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      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?

  2. sounds pretty awesome by v1 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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.

    --
    I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
    1. Re:sounds pretty awesome by Elbereth · · Score: 3, Informative

      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.

    2. Re:sounds pretty awesome by ConaxConax · · Score: 3, Funny

      Dracula?

  3. Ohhhh can't wait! by failedlogic · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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.

  4. They will break it. by MrEricSir · · Score: 3, Insightful

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

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

    --
    There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
    1. Re:They will break it. by keith_nt4 · · Score: 3, Funny

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

      --
      "UNIX is very simple, it just needs a genius to understand its simplicity." -Dennis Ritchie
  5. Re:Can anyone else say "sell out" by rotide · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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!)