EA buys social gaming firm Playfish for $400m

EA said the acquisition strengthened its social entertainment offering and increaseed its focus on the transition from to digital and social gaming. Playfish will become part of EA's EA Interactive division, which covers online and wireless gaming.

EA will pay around $275m in cash with approximately $25m in equity. Additional payments could reach $100m depending on performance targets for Playfish, whose games include 'Pet Society' and 'Restaurant City'.

Barry Cottle, senior vice president and general manager of EA Interactive, said: "Social gaming, with its emphasis on friends and community, is seeing tremendous growth and this is the right time to invest to strengthen our participation in this space. EAi has been successfully leading the charge for EA, and with the addition of proven expertise from Playfish, their broad consumer base and strong game brands, we're moving ahead aggressively in our plans to lead in the category of cross-platform social entertainment."

Kristian Segerstrale, CEO and co-founder of Playfish said that the industry was undergoing dramatic transformation and joining EA was the ideal opportunity for the company to move forward.

"EAi's vision and entrepreneurial culture are consistent with our own, and together, we are in position to be the company that defines new and innovative connected experiences that will change the way people play games," Segerstrale said.

There are more than 150m Playfish games installed and played worldwide. As well as Facebook and MySpace, it has develped games for Google, Bebo, iPhone and Android.

Playfish says it currently has over 60m monthly active players across its ten titles - that also include Country Story.