EA buys PopCap Games

Deal is for an initial $750 million but could rise to $1.3 billion with earnouts.

Electronic Arts has announced plans to acquire casual games firm PopCap Games for an initial $650 million in cash and $100 million in stock, with earnouts taking the potential cost to $1.3 billion.

The acquisition is expected to close in August, and is part of EA's drive for digital revenues on smartphones and tablets, as well as on Facebook. It follows EA's earlier purchase of social games publisher Playfish, and more recently its decision to snap up mobile studio Firemint.

"PopCap’s great studio talent and powerful IP add to EA’s momentum and accelerate our drive towards a $1 billion digital business," says EA CEO John Riccitiello. "EA’s global studio and publishing network will help PopCap rapidly expand their business to more digital devices, more countries, and more channels."

PopCap says its games have been installed more than 150 million times on various platforms, and that 80% of its revenues came from "high growth digital platforms" in 2010.

PopCap CEO David Roberts hints that the company may have had other suitors in his statement. "We picked EA because they have recast their culture around making great digital games," says Roberts. "By working with EA, we'll scale our games and services to deliver more social, mobile, casual fun to an even bigger, global audience."