As part of its two-year plan to take over the universe, EA has announced it’s acquired “casual” hit factory PopCap for $750 million. That’s $650 million in cash, and an additional $100 million paid out in EA shares to “certain PopCap stockholders.<\/p>\n
The deal could end up costing EA up to $1.3 billion, however, if PopCap makes meets its own revenue targets through December 2013. So that’s a lot of copies of Battlefield 3 that EA needs to sell over the next year or so.<\/p>\n
“EA and PopCap are a compelling combination,” says EA’s John Riccitiello. “PopCap’s great studio talent and powerful IP add to EA’s momentum and accelerate our drive towards a $1 billion digital business. EA’s global studio and publishing network will help PopCap rapidly expand their business to more digital devices, more countries, and more channels.”<\/p>\n
“We picked EA because they have recast their culture around making great digital games,” adds PopCap CEO David Roberts. “By working with EA, we’ll scale our games and services to deliver more social, mobile, casual fun to an even bigger, global audience.”<\/p>\n
As long as there’s more Bookworm, I’m sure everybody’s happy.<\/p>\n