Electronic Arts Acquires Playfish for $300M

Electronic Arts Acquires Playfish for $300M

By Chloe Albanesius

Electronic Arts on Monday announced that it has acquired social network gaming company Playfish for $300 million.

The move is intended to broaden EA's focus on digital and social gaming. Playfish will become part of EA Interactive, a division focused on Web-based and wireless games.

EA will pay $275 million in cash and $25 million in equity retention arrangements.

"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," Barry Cottle, senior vice president and general manager of EA Interactive, said in a statement.

"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.

Playfish games have been downloaded more than 150 million times on platforms like Facebook, MySpace, Google, Bebo, iPhone, and Android, EA said. The company has about 60 million monthly active players across its 10 titles, like Restaurant City and Country Story.

"We can't wait to start exploring social versions of some of the well-loved franchises that this combination brings to us," Segerstrale wrote in a blog post. "We also look forward to being able to bring our games to more platforms and more players around the world with the help of our new friends."