List of acquisitions by Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts is an American company that is a developer, marketer, publisher, and distributor of video games, that was founded in 1982. Products of the company include EA Sports franchises, Sims, and other titles on both handheld and home gaming consoles.[1]

Electronic Arts logo
EA headquarters in Redwood City, California

Electronic Arts often acquires new companies to expand or add to new product lines. For instance, EA chairman and chief executive officer Larry Probst said after the acquisition of JAMDAT Mobile that "we intend to build a leading global position in the [...] business of providing games on mobile phones".[2] EA followed through with this later, making the company into EA Mobile, and allowing people to purchase and download content produced by them directly onto their phones.[1] After the acquisition of Origin Systems, some staff in that company claimed that Electronic Arts initially gave them more resources, but allowed little latitude if employees made a mistake, and in some cases no longer trusted them, and even worked against them.[3][4] EA has shut down entire companies or the studios thereof after acquiring them, including the studio DICE Canada, Origin Systems, EA Chicago (NuFX), and Pandemic Studios.[5][6][7][8] Gaming blogger Brian Crecente has said that fears that EA doesn't care about the quality of their products after they are acquired are debatable.[9]

As of April 2021, Electronic Arts' largest acquisition is the purchase of Glu Mobile, for $2.4 billion. Of the 39 companies acquired by EA, 20 are based in the U.S., five in the United Kingdom, six in Continental Europe, and eight elsewhere. The majority of these companies and studios are now defunct, with some having been merged into other entities. Of the six companies which EA purchased a stake in, two remaining companies are based in the U.S., while three other U.S. companies are defunct. After acquiring a 19.9% stake in France-based Ubisoft in 2004, EA sold a remaining 14.8% stake in it in 2010.[10][11]

Each acquisition listed is for the entire company, unless otherwise noted. The acquisition date listed is the date of the agreement between Electronic Arts (EA) and the subject of the acquisition. Unless otherwise noted, the value of each acquisition is listed in U.S. dollars, because EA is headquartered in the U.S. If the value of the acquisition is not listed, then it is undisclosed. If the EA service that is derived from the acquired company is known, then it is also listed. According to data from Pitch Book via VentureBeat, the company has spent about $2.9 Billion on its 10 biggest acquisitions since 1992.[12]

Key

General
Defunct
Merged into surviving group
*Electronic Arts sold stake

Acquisitions

DateCompanyBusinessCountryValue (USD)Derived StudiosReferences
11987Batteries IncludedHardware and software developer  CAN[13][14]
2July 1, 1991Distinctive Software Inc.Video game developer  CANEA Vancouver[15]
3September 10, 1992Origin SystemsVideo game developer  USA$35,000,000[16]
4November 14, 1994DROsoftSoftware distributor  ESP[17]
5January 6, 1995Bullfrog ProductionsVideo game developer  UK[18][19]
6March 8, 1995Kingsoft GmbHSoftware distributor  GER[20]
7January 29, 1996Manley & AssociatesVideo game developer  USAEA Seattle[21]
8June 4, 1997MaxisVideo game developer and publisher  USA$125,000,000Maxis[note 1][22][23][24]
9April 2, 1998Tiburon EntertainmentVideo game developer  USAEA Tiburon[25]
10April 8, 1998Vision SoftwareSoftware distributor  RSAVision Software[26]
11July 28, 1998ABC SoftwareSoftware distributor   CHABC Software[27]
12August 17, 1998Westwood Studios; Virgin Interactive's North American Operations, Burst StudiosComputer and video game developers  USA$122,500,000EA Pacific[note 2][28][29]
13September 8, 1999PlayNationDeveloper of online entertainment  USAPlayNation[30]
14November 22, 1999KesmaiVideo game developer and online game publisher  USA[31]
15February 24, 2000DreamWorks InteractiveVideo game developer  USADanger Close Games[32][33]
16February 28, 2001Pogo.comFamily games website  USA[34]
17June 11, 2002Black Box GamesSports and racing video game developer  CANQuicklime Games[35][36][37]
18October 16, 2003Studio 33Racing video game developer  UKEA Northwest[38]
19February 13, 2004NuFXSports video game developer  USAEA Chicago[8][39]
20July 28, 2004Criterion SoftwareVideo game developer  UK$48,000,000[40][41]
21July 27, 2005HypnotixVideo game developer  USAEA Tiburon[42]
22December 8, 2005JAMDAT MobileMobile entertainment developer  USA$680,000,000EA Mobile[2]
23July 20, 2006Mythic EntertainmentComputer game developer  USAEA Mythic[43][44]
24August 23, 2006Phenomic Game DevelopmentReal-time strategy game developer  GEREA Phenomic[45][46]
25October 2, 2006Digital Illusions CE (DICE)‡[note 3]Video game developer  SWEEA DICE[47]
26November 30, 2006Headgate StudiosVideo game developer  USAEA Salt Lake†[48]
27February 12, 2007SingShot MediaSocial network service  USASims on Stage[49][50]
28October 5, 2007Super Computer International‡Computer software developer  USAEA Online Technology‡[51]
29October 11, 2007VG Holding Corp.Holding company of video game developers  USA$775,000,000BioWarePandemic Studios[52]
30May 21, 2008Hands-On MobileMobile video game developer and publisher  ROKEA Mobile Korea[53]
31June 3, 2008ThreeSFSocial network service  USA[54]
32December 2, 2008J2MSoft†Computer game developer  ROK[55]
33Q1 Fiscal 2010J2Play†Social network service  CAN[56]
34November 9, 2009PlayfishSocial network game developer  UK$400,000,000[57][58][59]
35October 20, 2010Chillingo†Mobile video game publisher  UK$20,000,000[60][61]
36May 3, 2011Mobile Post ProductionMobile video game developer and publisher  USA[62]
37May 4, 2011FiremintMobile video game developer and publisher  AUS[63]
38July 12, 2011PopCap GamesVideo game developer and publisher  USA$750,000,000[note 4]San Francisco & SeattleDublin† & Vancouver[37][64][65]
39August 11, 2011Bight Games‡Trade Wars (mobile game)  CANRed Crow Studios[66]
40June 1, 2012ESNSocial gaming product developers  SWE[67]
41December 1, 2017Respawn EntertainmentVideo game developer  USA$315,000,000[note 5][68][69]
42May 1, 2018GameFlyGame streaming  USA[70]
43July 9, 2018Industrial ToysMobile video game developer  USA[71]
44February 18, 2021CodemastersVideo game developer and publisher  UK$1,200,000,000[72]
45April 29, 2021Glu MobileMobile video game developer and publisher  USA$2,400,000,000EA Mobile[73]
46May 5, 2021Metalhead SoftwareVideo game developer  CAN[74]
47June 23, 2021PlaydemicMobile video game developer  UK$1,400,000,000[75]

Total: 47 companies

Stakes

DateCompanyBusinessCountryValueReferences
January 25, 1995Visual Concepts Entertainment[note 6]Video game developer  USA[76]
May 9, 1995NovaLogic[note 7]Video game developer and publisher  USA[77]
March 11, 1997Accolade[note 8]Video game developer and publisher  USA[78][79]
April 3, 1997Mpath Interactive[note 9]Computer game and online company  USA[80][81]
August 4, 1998Kodiak Interactive Software Studios, Inc.†[note 10]Video game developer  USA[82][83]
December 24, 2004Ubisoft*[note 11]Video game developer and publisher  FRA68.9 million euros[10][11][84]

Notes

References

External links