Rumors: First PopCap, now Ohai--EA looks for leg up in social games

Remember that mystery buyer that was rumored to pick up PopCap for an insane $1 billion? How about the scuttlebutt that a mystery shopper was eying up Ohai? As it turns out, they're both EA, the veteran games publisher that has tailed Zynga on Facebook with games like Madden NFL Superstars and Pet Society for some time. According to VentureBeat, unnamed sources have revealed that the company has purchased Ohai for an undisclosed amount, though the website guesses that it wasn't much.

While an opt to buy a company like PopCap with hit properties like Bejeweled and Plants vs Zombies (even if for $1 billion) is fairly obvious, a move to purchase a company like Ohai is a bit more ... puzzling. (Though, the company did just release a new game, Unicorn Parade.) Especially considering the fact that EA owns companies in the social games industry like Playfish and Chillingo, publisher of Angry Birds in the U.S.

However, some considerable talent has passed through Ohai, like former CEO Susan Wu, a professional gamer turned former venture capitalist. But with most of that talent long gone after a few lukewarm releases, why else would EA want Ohai? Our best guess is for good talent at a cheap price, but we know just about as much as you do.

Regardless of whether either rumor turns out to be true, know this: EA is on the hunt, and if it isn't PopCap or Ohai it'll be someone else. With lots of cash and lots of reason to close that gap between its now third-place 31 million players, EA looks like it's ready for another shopping spree.

Yup, it's true - Electronic Arts lassos Bejeweled maker PopCap for $650 million

Turns out (one of) the rumors from the past few weeks are true -- Bejeweled-creator PopCap has been purchased by Electronic Arts for upwards of a billion dollars, an unnamed source confirms for Games.com this afternoon. The official news should be breaking shortly... stay tuned...

And the news is out. Electronic Arts has purchased PopCap for $650 million, adding its slate of critically acclaimed, best-selling games like Bejeweled, Plants vs. Zombies, Zuma, Bookworm (and other) to EA's already vast library of games.

"We picked EA because they have recast their culture around making great digital games," said PopCap CEO David Roberts says in a statement. "By working with EA, we'll scale our games and services to deliver more social, mobile, casual fun to an even bigger, global audience."

"EA and PopCap are a compelling combination," EA CEO John Riccitiello says. "PopCap's great studio talent and powerful IP add to EA's momentum and accelerate our drive towards a $1 billion digital business. EA's global studio and publishing network will help PopCap rapidly expand their business to more digital devices, more countries, and more channels."

EA will pay $650 million in cash and $100 million in shares of EA common stock will be issued to select PopCap stockholders. PopCap sellers will also be eligible for additional cash, based on PopCap's performance through December 2013.

This is an unexpected development, especially after PopCap had been very forthcoming about its plans to go public earlier this year. It will also be interesting to see how EA will help PopCap reach a new audience and how PopCap, in turn, will enhance EA's casual games business.

Tim Burton of video games plans to bring more 'twisted fairy tales' to a browser near you

If you 1. like filmmaker Tim Burton and 2. play video games, you're most likely familiar with American McGee, the quirky video game maker who, most recently, created 'Alice: Madness Returns' for Electronic Arts. This and the game's predecessor 'American McGee's Alice' (released way back in 2000), let players explore a dark and twisted version of the classic Alice in Wonderland story, complete with a blood-splattered heroine who wields a giant knife and uses an oversized pepper grinder like a Gatling gun.

Now that the new game is in stores, McGee says, in a recent blog post, that he and his studio, Spicy Horse, will be refocusing on creating free-to-play browser games, which will include some in the 'twisted fairy tale' genre (perhaps similar to the episodic American McGee's Grimm from 2008?), plus a new, not-yet-announced game created in collusion with Bejeweled maker PopCap. From McGee's blog:

    Over the coming weeks and months we expect to announce more details about a range of exciting projects, including the collaboration with PopCap. For the "Alice" fans, we've got some twisted fairy tales being adapted into F2P format – very dark stuff. And the creative minds at the studio are also stretching out, building a diverse offering of IPs which we hope will capture audiences around the world.

One thing that McGee says the studio main focus is merging casual games with a top-notch 3D video game experience. "My belief is that this combination will be the next big wave in the casual online space," McGee says in the blog post. "Where audiences have had their fun with great 2D Facebook games, the market demands evolution, and we hope we've got the secret formula."

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Details on McGee's PopCap project are slim at the moment. All we know, thanks to Gamasutra, is that his studio is working on an online 3D version of one of PopCap's games, which will initially launch in Asia. I'm placing my bets on a new game based in the world of Peggle. That's complete speculation on my part, but you have to admit -- the Pachinko-style game's wacky mascots, such as Bjorn the Unicorn and Kat Tut, seem to fit right in with McGee's idiosyncratic sensibilities.