EA has purchased PopCap

Well, it's official - EA has purchased casual gaming giant PopCap for approx. $750 million USD. Here are some details via GamePro:

EA confirmed the acquisition in a press release, which has been rumored for a few weeks now. The price is $650 million plus $100 million in stock and a multi-year earn-out.

With this acquisition, EA adds popular casual gaming titles Bejeweled, Plants vs. Zombies and Peggle to their lineup, which should make them even more formidable on the mobile and social media front.

So when can we expect Bejeweled: Modern Warfare? ;)

Herp. *facepalm*

RUMOR: EA to aquire PopCap

TechCrunch has the story:

Possible logic behind the deal: Electronic Arts has some successful franchises that cater to casual users (including The Sims), but many of its successful properties appeal to the hardcore crowd. This is problematic on mobile, where iOS’s top grossing apps are dominated by Angry Birds, Zynga, Pocket Gems, and other casual games. PopCap could help with that — their arsenal of games includes Bejeweled and Plants vs Zombies, each of which is a powerhouse in mobile and casual gaming.

It's rumored that EA is looking to spend over $1 billion on this deal. If the casual gaming market continues to grow, I would be shocked if this didn't pay off in the long run.

Is there any area of gaming that EA *doesn't* have it's fingers in?