Angry Birds flies to Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts has acquired mobile games publisher Chillingo, popular for the smash hit Angry Birds, to increase the gaming giant’s presence in the mobile space and on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch platforms in particular.
Chillingo is acquired for an undisclosed sum and will continue to operate as part of EA Mobile. Other games in its portfolio comprise of Cut the Rope, Helsing’s Fire, Predators, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Minigore, iDracula, and Modern Conflict. Angry Birds alone has been downloaded more than 20 million times.
But as per the reports, the deal went down for around $20 million cash and other incentives. The deal doesn’t include Angry Birds, however, with developer Rovio retaining the rights to that property and the inevitable sequels (Angrier Birds, Enraged Birds, and Bloody Furious Birds)
According to the EA’s statement, this move helped give it increased market leadership on the Apple platform, and strengthened its position as the world’s leading wireless entertainment publisher.
But EA’s marketing chief won’t be around to celebrate this as she’s moving to GetJar. The world’s second biggest app store has announced that it has appointed Berenice Kalan as director of UK marketing, to develop GetJar’s voice amongst advocates, develop new and existing relationships with UK app developers and publishers, and drive GetJar’s growth in the UK.
Kalan spent the last five years working as head of product and marketing for key players in the mobile games industry such as I-Play, Glu and most recently, EA Mobile.
Nokia strikes deal for premium EA mobile content
Electronic Arts has confirmed support for the launch of Nokia’s next-gen mobile phone games platform, with a range of titles custom-designed for Nokia S60 devices.
Through Nokia’s Content Discoverer, consumers are able to download EA games through virtual shopping malls directly to their mobile devices.
“Nokia shares our vision of making it easy for people around the world to find and play the best quality games on their mobile phones,” said Mitch Lasky, senior VP of EA
“We are looking forward to working more closely with Nokia on promoting a delivery system that propels mobile gaming forward. This relationship will bring together EA’s great brands and development studios with Nokia’s innovative hardware and global consumer reach,” he added.
Some of EA’s biggest franchises initially available will include The Sims 2, FIFA 06, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06, FIFA Street 2, Doom, Tetris and Tetris Mania.
Nokia’s next-generation mobile phone gaming platform is due to launch in the first half of 2007, and continues the work already established by the company via its N-Gage gaming deck.
“The core of Nokia’s games strategy is to make it easy for people to find, buy and play great quality mobile games and we’re excited to expand our relationship with EA to help make that possible,” said Jaakko Kaidesoja, director of games and multimedia at Nokia.
“Nokia and EA have a common vision regarding the opportunities in mobile games and how to turn them into a reality.”
“When you combine Nokia’s leadership in hardware, usability and software platforms with EA’s brands and quality thresholds, the results will speak for themselves,” he added.
Source- http://www.gamesindustry.biz
