Andre Yoskowitz
20 Oct 2010 22:00
Electronic Arts will purchase Chillingo, the publisher behind the blockbuster game "Angry Birds" in an effort to boost their mobile gaming catalog.
The software company will pay around $19 million for Chillingo.
EA has confirmed, however, that they will not get the intellectual property rights to "Angry Birds," which was developed by the Finnish company Rovio Mobile.
One analyst was surprised by the purchase because it lacked the IP for Angry Birds: "I'm kind of wondering what they bought," says Todd Mitchell, a Kaufman Bros analyst, via Reuters. "But in light of EA not getting the IP, they're buying the development platform to put their own IP on it in hopes of driving social networking and customers back to their own properties."
Chillingo's other popular game is "iDracula," a shooter available for iOS devices.
Concludes EA: "By acquiring Chillingo, EA Mobile is increasing its market leadership on the Apple platform as well as reaffirming its position as the world's leading wireless entertainment publisher."