Today EA announced that it has purchased social networking game developer Playfish, whose games include Restaurant City, Quiztastic! and Bowling Buddies and can be seen on sites such as Facebook and Myspace.
EA must see some real potential in this developer considering that the deal was worth $300 million, plus an addition $100 million after certain milestones have been met.
To see what each company had to say on this matter, read on.
Barry Cottle, general manager of EA’s web and mobile-focused division EA Interactive, stated “Social gaming… is seeing tremendous growth and this is the right time to invest to strengthen our participation in this space.”
Playfish CEO Kristian Segerstrale added, “We can’t wait to start exploring social versions of some of the well-loved franchises that this combination brings to us.”
What does this mean for us gamers? Will we see Rock Band mini games on Facebook or Madden fantasy leagues on Myspace? I guess we will just have to wait and see what EA has in store for Playfish.
There’s a rumor going around the internetz that EA laid off a bunch of people today as well.