EA won't poo-poo on PopCap, CEO Riccitiello promises

Phew--EA had us worried for a second. (But keep on your toes.) After announcing that it bought casual and social games icon PopCap for a cool $650 million and some change, gamers and the press alike worried how this would affect the Seattle-based independent developer. But according to EA CEO John Riccitiello, there's no need to worry--PopCap will be treated as a "if it's not broke" situation, according to Shacknews.

For anyone who is concerned that EA will suck the creative energy out of PopCap like one of its plant-eating zombies, don't worry, but some changes will be made. "Some of their most important designers and creators and producers are stuck to perpetually working on language localization, individual handset adaptations, individual carrier adaptations," Riccitiello said during an investors call. "It's a lot of work... It's very unproductive work for great designers." This looks to be one of wrongs EA looks to right with the acquisition.

Regardless of whether you believe Riccitiello, one thing is for sure: EA means serious business when it comes to mobile and social gaming. However, whether PopCap will be enough for the company to compete with the likes of Zynga is, of course, up in the air. And considering the companies' collective players on Facebook combined just surpasses a single Zynga game, Empires & Allies, the duo certainly has lots of work to do.

PopCap's Peggle and Plants vs. Zombies coming to Facebook?

This week, Electronic Arts snapped up Bejeweled creator PopCap for roughly $650 million, and during an investor meeting yesterday shared some interesting info that might send Facebook gaming fans into a tizzy.

What's the big news? It appears that PopCap will be bringing both Plants vs. Zombies and Peggle to Facebook, based on this "Success on Facebook" presentation that was shown during the meeting (see below).
popcap success on facebook
Play close attention to item #4 which says "Future outlook is strong with top IP from both EA and PopCap to come," followed by logos from Risk: Factions, The Sims Social (two EA games we know for sure are headed to Facebook), as well as logos for Peggle and Plants vs. Zombies.

In May, PopCap announced plans to release a socialized version of its zombie- and plant-themed tower defense game -- called Plants vs. Zombies Social Edition -- exclusively on China's social network Renren.com. This new socialized version of the game includes a two-minute Rampage mode, where you try to kill as many zombies as possible before the clock runs out. At the time of the announcement, the possibility of this game migrating to Facebook seemed slim, but in the brave new world of EA/PopCap, it looks like it just might happen.

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!)

Rumor: EA to buy PopCap for over $1 billion

Now, this is a last ditch effort if we've ever seen one. TechCrunch reports that, following up with yesterday's news that PopCap may sell for over $1 billion, EA may very well be the company at the checkout counter. The website cites two anonymous sources that point to the nearly 30-year-old games company as the buyer. And no, the asking price has not changed--it's still insane.

But EA, which has enjoyed a distant second to Zynga in the social space, just might be crazy enough to bid what TechCrunch reports is 13 percent of their $7 billion plus market cap. This could truly be the company's Hail Mary Pass to win the social and mobile race once and for all, especially considering how long it could take EA to make all that money back.

We thought it was crazy when EA bought Playfish in 2009 for a whopping $400 million, but this clearly blows that out of the water. Unfortunately, neither company has enjoyed the runaway success both likely had hoped for. (You don't spend $400 million, much less $1 billion for second place.) So we can only hope that, if this buyout goes down, EA doesn't repeat history with PopCap.

If this purchase happens, the Bejeweled creator will obviously put its imminent IPO (initial public offering) on hold. As of this writing, a source close to the matter tells us there's currently no internal information on the sale. We've contacted both for comment.

[Image Credit: Gamespy]

Do you really think PopCap will sell to EA? What could this mean for both company's futures?

Is EA's PopCap working on casino-style Facebook games? [Rumor]

Is PopCap looking to go toe to toe with Zynga and DoubleDown Interactive's casino Facebook games? According to GeekWire, a bunch of rather specific domain purchases by the recently-acquired company certainly suggest that's the case. Well, that and a recent trademark application ... and a Facebook page created with that very same trademark. Alright, PopCap has been terrible at keeping this whole thing a secret.

Lucky Gem CasinoThe game in question might be titled "Lucky Gem Casino," as Fusible points out that the Bejeweled creator recently changed a Facebook page it owns to reflect the new title. The Info tab on the page reads, "Thanks for visiting! PopCap Casino is the future home of some amazing, casino-style social games from PopCap, the worldwide leader in casual gaming."

With wording like that, it sounds as if Lucky Gem Casino will be a suite of casino games from the developer, much like DoubleDown Casino. And if you take a peak at the page's Wall, a message can be found there, presumably from the company, that reads, "Keep an eye out to experience casino-style gaming from PopCap Games!" A week later, a poll was posted asking fans about their favorite type of casino games--unsurprisingly, the "Slot Machines" category won by a landslide.

GeekWire points out that this might be because PopCap is now owned by EA, which likely has a vested interested in directly competing with Facebook game champ Zynga at every turn. However, it's also important to keep in mind that a majority of PopCap's games (not including Plants vs Zombies) are visibly influenced by a casino approach to gameplay albeit with a far heavier focus on skill rather than luck.

[Via Financial Times]

[Image Credit: Destructoid]

What do you think PopCap might be up to with this trademark, Facebook page and domain registries? Would you play a stable of casino games from the creator of Bejeweled and Zuma Blitz?