If you think that's steep, remember how much it paid for Jamdat.
The social games industry grapevine is ablaze with rumours that EA may be about to announce an acquisition of Playfish, the company launched by former Glu EMEA bos Kristian Segerstrale.
Indeed, the report on Inside Social Games that sparked the rumours claims EA may even have completed the acquisition already for as much as $250 million.
However, the same article suggests EA has also been in discussions with rival social games publisher Zynga, although those talks may have foundered on Zynga's asking price of $1 billion.
Is $250 million a lot to pay for a social games startup? You might think so, but if true, the deal has many parallels with EA's acquisition of mobile games publisher Jamdat in 2005 for $680 million.
The deal at a stroke made EA the largest mobile games publisher in the West. The equivalent today in the social games space would be Zynga, but if its asking price is too high, Playfish would be the next best option.
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The deal would give EA prime position to tap into the expected $1 billion US virtual items market for starters.
What does all this mean for mobile? Both Zynga and Playfish have launched games for iPhone, while Playfish has also ventured onto Android.
However, both have been relatively cautious - Playfish hasn't brought its hottest Facebook games like Pet Society and Restaurant City to iPhone yet.
