Tag Archives: EA
EA Denies 500-1,000 Employee Layoff Rumor
Electronics Arts has denied a report that says around 500-1,000 people will be laid off. This would have represented 5-10% of their workforce. StartupGrind.com wrote about the layoff rumor, but they were given an official statement from the company that said “There are no lay-offs as such, we always have projects growing and morphing.” They added “At any given time there are new people coming in and others leaving. EA is growing and hiring and building teams to support the growing demand for digital games and services.” EA is also looking to hire hundreds of people for the digital, console, mobile, and social games divisions.
Categories EA, Electronic Arts Inc.
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Star Wars: The Old Republic Is EA’s Most Expensive Game
Star Wars: The Old Republic is Electronic Arts’ most expensive game put together in their 30-year history. The game features Jedis, Wookies, and Siths that are just like the characters in the popular movie series. It is believed that EA put in between $100 and $300 million into this game, but EA has not spilled any information on costs that are associated with development and licensing.
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EA Buys KlickNation For About $35 Million
Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) has acquired social gaming company KlickNation. KlickNation’s team will be rolled into EA’s BioWare social gaming division. KlickNation will focus on role-playing Facebook app games and the team will continue to be led by CEO Mark Otero.
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Categories EA, Electronic Arts Inc., KlickNation, Mark Otero
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EA Acquires PopCap After Zynga Offered $1 Billion
Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) has bought PopCap Games, an online gaming company. EA spent $650 million in cash and $100 million in stock. PopCap is also eligible to receive $550 million in earnouts over the next couple of years. EA out-bid Zynga for the deal. Zynga reportedly offered PopCap $1 billion.
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Categories EA, Electronic Arts Inc., PopCap Games
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Zynga Hires John Schappert Away From Electronic Arts’ COO Position
Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) just saw their chief operating officer John Schappert get hired away by social gaming Zynga. Zynga’s rivalry is intensifying as their internal valuation surpassed EA’s around October 2010. Ironically, about a year ago Schappert said at a conference that the future of gaming is acquired franchises like The Sims and Madden. [BusinessInsider]
Categories EA, Electronic Arts Inc., John Schappert, Zynga
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Activision Suing EA For $400 Million
Activision has added Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) to a $400 million lawsuit. Activision fired Jason West and Vince Zampella this past March. Activision believes that EA had “intentionally interfere with contracts, engaged in unfair competition and aided and abetted breaches of fiduciary duty by the executives.” Apparently EA was talking to West and Zampella through talent agency Creative Artists before the two finished working on Modern Warfare 2.
Facebook Credits To Become Exclusive Payment For EA Games On Facebook
Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) has signed a 5 year agreement with Facebook. The deal will require those who purchase EA games on Facebook to pay with Facebook Credits only. This deal is very similar to the deal that Zynga signed with Facebook. EA is the parent company of Playfish, a social gaming company that competes directly with Zynga.
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Categories EA, Electronic Arts Inc., Facebook
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Zynga’s Valuation Hits $5.51 Billion On SharesPost
Social gaming company Zynga has hit a $5.51 billion valuation on SharesPost Inc. Given this valuation, it means that Zynga is essentially worth more than Electronic Arts. Electronic Arts is worth about $5.16 billion on the stock market.
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Categories EA, Electronic Arts Inc., Mark Pincus, SharesPost Inc., Zynga
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Chillingo Acquired For $20 Million By EA [UPDATED]
Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) has acquired Chillingo, the gaming company that developed Angry Birds. The acquisition was made for about $20 million in cash according to a source with Reuters. Angry Birds was one of the fastest selling games on the Apple App Store and they recently released the game for Android free of charge. By releasing the game for free on Android, they saw about 2 million downloads in 3 days. “By acquiring Chillingo, EA Mobile is increasing its market leadership on the Apple Platform as well as reaffirming its position as the world’s leading wireless entertainment publisher,” stated a spokesperson for EA.
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Categories Angry Birds, Chillingo, EA, Electronic Arts Inc.
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40 Current and Former Infinity Ward Developers Suing Activision For $500 Million
About 40 past and current Infinity Ward developers are suing the company because of breach of contract and unpaid royalties for the game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The class action lawsuit seeks $500 million from Activision’s Infinity Ward over unpaid bonuses, profit sharing, punitive damages and future profits from future games including Modern Warfare 3. The payments were withheld to prevent employees from leaving Activision.
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