EA to buy PopCap Games for $1.3B

By Molly McHugh July 12, 2011

Electronic Arts (EA) announced today that it will acquire PopCap Games in a deal that may reach as much as a total of $1.3 billion . Last month, PopCap was rumored to have a mystery buyer that was offering somewhere around $1 billion. Given EA’s recent forays into social gaming, the deal doesn’t come as a huge surprise.

PopCap is behind popular games Plants vs. Zombies, Peggle, Zuma, and Bejeweled. ‘We picked EA because they have recast their culture around making great digital games,” CEO David Roberts said in a statement today. “By working with EA, we’ll scale our games and services to deliver more social, mobile, casual fun to an even bigger, global audience.”

The rise of social gaming has been good to PopCap, which integrates with Facebook, RenRen, Google, as well as Android and iOS devices. And EA has been keeping tabs on the industry: The developer has been traditionally affiliated with console and PC gaming up until recently, when it’s made several acquisitions to establish itself in the social gaming market. EA acquired both Playfish and Angry Birds publisher Chillingo recently, as well as signed a five year deal with Facebook in late 2010.

Adding PopCap Games to this list is another big step for EA’s social gaming division. It’s becoming more and more of a serious competitor in the social and casual gaming market, likely with intentions of challenging Zynga, which continues to dominate. According to EA’s investor statements, PopCap will also help its presence with gamers in Asia, as well as via mobile platforms.

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Before coming to Digital Trends, Molly worked as a freelance writer, occasional photographer, and general technical lackey…

Gaming

The best Among Us mods

The crew from Among Us plays Among Us.

One of the reasons Among Us took off in popularity was how simple the game is to understand. It has charming, but basic graphics, and the mechanics of one team trying to secretly kill the other without getting caught was hugely appealing. bur what made it so accessible were the social elements where everyone would argue their case and try to convince others of who the killer was to send them out of the airlock. As great as that simplicity is, it does eventually get a little old even with the new roles added in 2021. Among Us mods breathe new life into this fantastic game with quality-of-life upgrades and entirely new ways to play. We understand that a lot of mods out there are pretty sus, but you can trust that these are the best ones available.
Skeld.net

The easiest mod to recommend is one you don't need to tinker around with to get working. Skeld.net offers simple instructions on how to use this custom launcher to access free and public modded Among Us servers with people all over the world. That means you don't have to gather a bunch of friends who all have the same mod to play. In total, this launcher lets you play over 10 new custom mod servers, including Slenderman, Cops & Robbers, Jester, CrazyColors, and more. Each one changes up the base game in fun and unique ways that are a blast to experience. There's even a community Discord where you can hang out and coordinate games with others using the launcher.
BetterCrewLink

Gaming

3 Xbox Game Pass titles you should play this weekend (May 10-12)

Chai in Hi-Fi Rush.

This may feel like an odd weekend to play Xbox Game Pass because it has been such a devastating week for Xbox. It shuttered four studios that fell under Bethesda's umbrella, with Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks being the most notable closures. Although it can be tough to enjoy playing games during a time when the game industry is so clearly hurting, it also offers us an opportunity to look back at what these developers created and appreciate hard work. That's how I chose the three titles I'm spotlighting today.

First is the last game from Tango Gameworks, a critically acclaimed rhythm-action game that had the potential to be a new franchise for Microsoft had it not shut the studio down. Then there's a Tango Gameworks title that's more in line with the studio's horror roots and shows just how varied the studio's game output could be. While Arkane Austin's reputation has been sullied by Redfall, the last entry on this list is a much better game from the company. It's a sci-fi immersive sim that played right into the studio's greatest strengths before it chased the multiplayer game trend.
Hi-Fi Rush

Gaming

3 new Nintendo Switch games you should try this weekend (May 10-12)

Two players play Nintendo Switch.

If you only tend to follow the biggest video game releases, it may seem like the Nintendo Switch is currently in a game drought. The system has only gotten a handful of niche releases last year, like Endless Ocean: Luminous, that haven't been Zelda-level hits. Zoom out a bit, though, and you'll find that Nintendo's aging system is still thriving. That's thanks to vibrant indie and third-party scenes that are keeping the platform engaging.

If you're looking for a new Switch game to play this weekend, you actually have more to choose from than you might realize. The system got several games this week, from a chaotically fun Pac-Man game to a genuine game of the year contender. Here are three games to check out on Switch, all of which are worth picking up this weekend.
Animal Well