Electronic Arts on Monday said it has agreed to acquire Playfish, a developer of casual games that has made a splash across social-networking sites.
Redwood City, California, EA's deal for Playfish underscores market growth in casual games titles and movement toward distribution across social destinations. London-based Playfish makes the debut of most of its games on Facebook before offering them elsewhere.
Founded in 2007, Playfish hooked up $18 million in venture capital from Accel Partners and Index Ventures in 2008. For Accel, the exit on Playfish marks one of two on Monday, as the venture firm also
cashed out on its stake in AdMob.
The startup's game titles include Who Has the Biggest Brain?, Pet Society, Word Challenge, Geo Challenge, Bowling Buddies, Minigolf Party, Restaurant City, Crazy Planets, Country Store, and Quiztastic.
In addition to Facebook, Playfish games are offered on MySpace, Bebo, and as an application on Apple's iPhone, among other places.
EA agreed to pay Playfish $275 million in cash plus $25 million in stock-based retention. The deal also calls for the social-gaming company to be eligible for an additional $100 million upon meeting certain targets.
EA also reported earnings, beating Wall Street estimates on sales. For its second quarter ended September 30, the games publishing giant reported net income of $19 million on $1.15 billion in revenue. That compares with a loss of $20 million on revenue of of $1.13 billion a year ago.
The company has been hard hit by the gaming market's decline of the last year in a recessionary spending environment. EA said it plans to undertake a restructuring plan that involves cutting 1,500 employees by March and reducing its number of products in a bid to save $100 million a year, resulting in a restructuring charge of $130 million to $150 million.
Shares of EA climbed $0.53, or nearly 3 percent, to $19.53 at the close of trading.