Social gaming company Zynga had made buy-out offers to mobile gaming companies PopCap and Rovio. Both companies turned down their respective buy-out offers. PopCap, developer of Plants vs. Zombies and Peggle, turned down $1 billion from Zynga. Rovio, developed of the Angry Birds franchise, turned down a $2.25 billion offer from Zynga. Zynga’s corporate culture was cited as one of the major reasons why the two companies turned down the offer. It is also believed that Zynga did not want to pay the amount that Rovio wanted. PopCap Games ended up being acquired by Electronic Arts. It is believed that PopCap took EA’s offer because their earn-out terms were simpler to meet. Zynga is expected to go public very soon. [BusinessInsider]

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.

PopCap Games has raised $22.5 million. PopCap Games makes game applications that are distributed on social networks. PopCap Games created Bejeweled which has been played over a billion times according to VentureBeat. The $22.5 million first round of funding was provided by Meritech Capital Partners. PopCap plans to use the funding for acquisitions and working capital.

PopCap has been profitable since they launched 10 years ago and the company has about 240 employees based in Seattle. PopCap’s games can be played for an hour before payment is required. The games cost $19.99 and Bejeweled has sold over 25 million units thus far. PopCap’s other hits include Zuma, Bookworm, Alchemy, and Plants vs. Zombies. PopCap competitors include Zynga, OnLive, and Playdom. Earlier this year, PopCap acquired Gastronaut Studios.

Other investors in PopCap Games include Larry Bowman and John McCaw. Bowman is a board member in PopCap games and has previously bought stock in the company. The CEO of PopCap is Dave Roberts.

Greg Canessa is the former VP of PopCap Games.  Earlier this week he announced that he will be stepping down from PopCap to join Blizzard Entertainment.  His position at Blizzard is currently a mystery.

Blizzard Entertainment produces World of Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo.  At PopCap, Canessa was responsible for bringing their games to Xbox Live Arcade, the PlayStation Network, the iPhone, and the Nintendo DS.

“We are sorry to see him go and we wish him the very best,” stated Garth Chouteau, executive at PopCap. “It’s been a pleasure working with him and his move is largely predicated on it being a big personal and professional opportunity for him. This isn’t going to have any material impact on our console presence and our strategy with respect to the consoles and the DS and the areas that Greg was heading up. We’re still very committed to those.”

[via Ars Technica]