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.

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?