EA Acquires Playdemic from WB Games for $1.4 Billion - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 01 July 2021 / 2,082 Views
Electronic Arts announced it has acquired developer Playdemic from Warner Bros. Games for $1.4 billion in cash.
Playdemic is a mobile developer founded in 2010 responsible for Golf Clash. The game has over 80 million downloads worldwide and is one of the most popular mobile games in the US and UK.
"We have enjoyed working with the talented team at Playdemic as they have grown Golf Clash beyond all expectations into a hit mobile game with tremendous longevity," said Warner Bros. Games President David Haddad. "While we have great respect for the Playdemic team, our decision to divest is a part of our overall strategy to build games based on Warner Bros. storied franchises."
Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson added, "Playdemic is a team of true innovators, and we’re thrilled to have them join the Electronic Arts family. 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."
EA acquired Playdemic as part of its mobile growth strategy with a focus to deliver "exciting new experiences for EA’s network of nearly half a billion players around the world."
"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," said Playdemic CEO Paul Gouge.
"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."
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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WoW1.4 billion for a mobile game?!
Is it worth it?
Their next game - Golf Clash: Course Warfare
Unfortunately named studio.
Interesting that EA didn't pick up the whole thing, but perhaps they didn't really fit with EA. I wonder if that was wholly based on EA's position, or if Warner/Discovery already have a deal lined up for the rest with somebody else?
EDIT: I had assumed the non-film related properties and studios likeTechland (Dying Light), Turtle Rock (Back 4 Blood), Arrowhead (Helldiver), Wayforward (Shantae), and maybe Turbine (since I think their film projects were taken away?) would be up for sale... But in this announcement, Warner/Discovery say: "the rest of its games will become part of the combined Warner-Discovery company after the deal is settled." so maybe they are planning on keeping them after all? I don't think the strictest reading of that statement is necessarily true, but the opposite is also not guaranted, so who knows? Although if they are keeping all those studios, perhaps the question should be if they will be buying more gaming studios/IP themselves?
I thought they had paid 1.4 billion for Pandemic a studio they fucked up and closed down .
