Electronic Arts Buys Social Games Firm Playfish for $400M

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 9, 2009 - 8:41am.

Redwood City, Calif. - Video game developer and publisher Electronic Arts (NASD: ERTS) announced on Monday that it has acquired Playfish, a creator of social network games, for about $275 million in cash, with an additional $25 million in equity retention arrangements. The sellers are also entitled to another $100 million in performance-based consideration on milestones achieved through the end of 2011. Founded in 2007, London-based Playfish's social network games, which include "Pet Society" and "Who Has the Biggest Brain," have been installed more than 150 million times.

The company counts over 60 million monthly active players across its ten game titles, and over 1 billion game play sessions monthly.

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

"EAi has been successfully leading the charge for EA, and with the addition of proven expertise from Playfish, their broad consumer base and strong game brands, we're moving ahead aggressively in our plans to lead in the category of cross-platform social entertainment."

Investors in Playfish included Accel Partners and Index Ventures.

http://www.ea.com

http://www.playfish.com