Online video video game powerhouse Electronic Arts has agreed to buy Glu Cell for $two.four billion in a key transfer to beef up its cell gaming offerings amid the pandemic-fueled increase in virtual leisure.
In accordance to EA, the blend of the two corporations will produce a cell product portfolio that “includes a lot more than fifteen top stay products and services across rapid-rising genres with a put together $one.32 billion in bookings above the previous twelve months.”
Glu Cell, which was started as Cyent Studios in 2001 and went public in 2007, is recognised for publishing celebrity-centered titles these types of as “Kim Kardashian: Hollywood” as effectively as “Design Property,” “Covet Vogue,” and “MLB Faucet Sports activities Baseball.”
Underneath the terms of the offer, EA will fork out $twelve.fifty in cash for each individual Glu share, a quality of about 33% to the closing cost on Monday. “Mobile carries on to develop as the largest gaming system in the planet, and with the addition of Glu’s online games and talent, we’re doubling the dimension of our cell small business,” Electronics Arts CEO Andrew Wilson reported in a news release.
Cell online games accounted for about half of the nearly $a hundred seventy five billion that shoppers around the world invested on videogame application previous year, in accordance to analytics business Newzoo BV. As The Wall Street Journal stories, EA is “best recognised for producing console and computer video game franchises these types of as FIFA and Battlefield” while cell “makes up the smallest — and slowest rising — part of the company’s web bookings.
In the getaway quarter, commonly the company’s most rewarding period of time, cell web bookings grew three% to $191 million. The acquisition of Glu Cell will come two months soon after EA purchased racing video game developer Codemasters for $one.two billion.
“The transfer is analogous to Activision Blizzard’s acquisition of Candy Crush maker King in 2015, serving as an costly way to break into the rewarding cell room,” The Verge reported. In accordance to VentureBeat, Glu “specializes in larger-spending plan cell online games, generally with full 3D visuals” but also “focuses on free-to-play online games that run for many years and make income from microtransactions. That is the small business model that EA has regularly informed investors it desires to emphasize in the long term.”
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