EA has been looking to expand its presence in the mobile market, loves anything and everything to do with live services, and has a penchant for enjoying big success with sports games, casual or otherwise. Now, with their newest acquisition, they’re looking to check all three of those boxes.
It’s been announced that EA has acquired mobile developer Playdemic from WB Games and WB’s parent company AT&T for $1.4 billion in cash. Playdemic is known for its 2017 title Golf Clash, which has garnered over 80 million players across iOS and Android since its launch up until now.
If that seems like a lot of money, well, that’s because it is- but for EA, who want to keep driving growth for their mobile games, their sports games, and their live services, this is clearly a deal they wanted to lock in.
“Playdemic is a team of true innovators, and we’re thrilled to have them join the Electronic Arts family,” said Andrew Wilson, EA’s CEO. “In addition to the ongoing success of Golf Clash, the talent, technology and expertise of Playdemic will be a powerful combination with our teams and IP at Electronic Arts. This is the next step building on our strategy to expand our sports portfolio and accelerate our growth in mobile to reach more players around the world with more great games and content.”
Said Paul Gouge, CEO of Playdemic: “We founded Playdemic with a focus on creating highly engaging and innovative game experiences. Our success with Golf Clash has proven our approach and demonstrated the ability of our incredibly talented teams to develop and operate best in class mobile games. Joining EA, one of the most successful games companies in the world, is an important next step in our journey and we are excited to continue to develop both Golf Clash and new titles as part of the EA family.”
This follows from recent reports that WB Games’ studios are going to be sold off by parent company AT&T. Last year, reports suggested that EA was among several parties interested in an acquisition.
