PopCap to Be Acquired by EA for $1 Billion

[topgear]

PopCap, the company responsible for gaming gems such as Bejeweled, Plants vs. Zombies and Peggle, could soon be acquired for as much as one billion dollars.

PopCap’s got a number of hugely successful games in its portfolio and it seems those hit titles have attracted the attention of a potential buyer. Rumors circulating in the blogosphere suggest that PopCap is in final stage acquisition talks with none other than Electronic Arts.

Surprising as this news is, the sum of money being discussed is probably the most jaw-dropping detail of all -- according to TechCrunch sources, PopCap’s price tag is set at over $1 billion. With EA’s current market cap sitting at $7.25 billion, a billion dollar acquisition would be a huge purchase for the company. However, TC’s Jason Kincaid writes, "We’re hearing that this is a Hail Mary pass from EA to break into mobile and social gaming — areas where the company hasn’t done nearly as well as it has in the console arena."

The rumors first surfaced last night, though the buyer wasn’t known at the time. EA, Zynga and Chinese company Tencent were all named as possibilities. However, it seems tongues have been wagging since that report first hit the wire as TechCrunch has heard from two sources that the buyer is EA.

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[Nipun]

Nice and interesting.... Thanks for sharing!

I loved double loved to play PopCap Games' INSANIQUARIUM when I was 7 or 8 years old.

 

[Prime_Coder]

TFS.
Now we can hope mobile and social games from EA.

 

[tkin]

This proves the mobile and casual gamer market is stronger than ever, I mean look how much farmville(oh yuck) makes. This in turn proves the human race is becoming dumber by the day, and will become extinct if Darwin was right.

 

[Nipun]

This proves the mobile and casual gamer market is stronger than ever, I mean look how much farmville(oh yuck) makes. This in turn proves the human race is becoming dumber by the day, and will become extinct if Darwin was right.

Even I hate all games by Zinga!

 

[ico]

why does EA has to acquire everything?

 

[topgear]

^^ simple enough ( unethical ) business policy to wipe out every competitors and be the No. 1 in gaming world but that ain't too easy because gamers always prefers quality games than big names

 

[Liverpool_fan]

Not happy. I liked Popcap.

 

[gameranand]

I hope that EA don't screw up this company which they normally do with many developers and all that. Pop Cap is real nice.

 

[Deleted member 26636]

ahh...Pop Cap.. had so much fun playing Plants vs Zombies.... hope the quality stays..

 

[Liverpool_fan]

This proves the mobile and casual gamer market is stronger than ever, I mean look how much farmville(oh yuck) makes. This in turn proves the human race is becoming dumber by the day, and will become extinct if Darwin was right.

There's also a fact that casual games:
1. Have little hardware requirement.
2. Are more suitable for both sexes and for all ages.
3. Require less time investment to learn.
4. And they can easily target the mobile devices.
5. And yeah a lot of them are quite fun to play as well.

 

[vamsi_krishna]

This is more of a good than bad. EA has been gentle and supportive to small developers. Proven by hundreds of arcade games that are being pushed to XBL, PSN every week. Developers will get more resources and reach. EA will get their money. Games get good games.

But, they will lose their trademark as an indie.

And, only few development houses gone defunct under EA. Then again.. who can forget what happened to Pandemic Studios.