Rumor: Zynga offered PopCap $1 billion in cold, hard cash

Smart move, guys. PopCap apparently turned down $1 billion in straight cash from Zynga before agreeing to EA's offer of $650 million in cash, Forbes reports. (Keep in mind that another $100 million in EA stock and a $550 million bonus based on performance over two years were also part of the deal, totaling a potential of $1.3 billion.)

Forbes cites an unnamed source, who claims that Zynga would have financed the deal in part thanks to Goldman Sachs, which is one of the underwriters leading the company's $1.5 billion IPO. And, according to Forbes, Zynga had just under $1 billion in cash as of March 31, implying that the company was willing to put up almost all of its clams for the Bejeweled creator.

If anything, it makes you wonder what Zynga would have done with PopCap. Take over the world ... for real? (Nah, it would probably just make more games ... world dominating games!)