Electronic Arts Gobbles JAMDAT Mobile

[Darius Wey]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.jamdat.com/JamdatWeb/Catalog/US/en/game/mobile/MediaRelationsPressView/pressRelease-pressReleaseCode__.__1133984676872' target='_blank'>http://www.jamdat.com/JamdatWeb/Cat...__1133984676872</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) and JAMDAT Mobile Inc. (NASDAQ:JMDT) today announced they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which EA will acquire JAMDAT. EA will pay $27 per share in cash in exchange for each share of JAMDAT common stock and assume outstanding stock options for a total of approximately $680 million. EA and JAMDAT together plan to publish over 50 games for mobile phones in the first twelve months following the completion of the acquisition, including popular titles like Tetris, Bejeweled, JAMDAT Bowling, Need For SpeedTM, EA SPORTS Madden NFLTM Football and EA SPORTS FIFA Soccer."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/wey-20051209-EAJAMDAT.jpg" /><br /><br />Gobble, gobble, gobble. Another company to bite the bullet under corporate acquisition. <a href="http://www.jamdat.com/">JAMDAT Mobile</a>, the publisher for well-known Pocket PC titles such as Worms World Party, Links, and Lemonade Tycoon (to name a few), has just announced that it is being acquired by <a href="http://www.ea.com/">Electronic Arts</a> for approximately $680 million. EA hopes that the acquisition of JAMDAT will enable them to strike into the heart of the mobile gaming market. Okay, hurry up and release the games already! ;)

[hoodmeister]

Good from the "churning out games" POV (ie, we're likely to see a load more for the PPC) but bad for innovation...

Expect to see Fifa06 07 08 09 10 11 etc... for the PPC... All much the same as the prior release :(

[juni]

I seem to remember some posts on the net about how EA treats their employees. But I could remember it wrong...

[whydidnt]

Wow, I have seriously undersestimated the size of this market. JAMDAT is worth over $600 million dollars? How many 19.99 games do they have to sell just to cover the cost of this purchase -- by my calculation over 30 Million!!

I can see that the price we pay for our mobile games is going to rise in the near future. Remind me again, how much did Access pay for Palm Source? If I remember correctly is was less than 1/2 what EA is paying for JAMDAT. That can't be right, is it?

I think it's time for me to learn how to develop Mobile games! :D

[Pinnacle]

Mobile Gaming is definitely bigger than Access aquiring Palm. Jamdat is very big in mobile phone game development. Think of all those kids (and, well, older kids) that love to download games onto their mobile phones. It's much bigger than anything PPC or Palm can produce, without a doubt.

And this kind of merger is for primarily the mobile phone gaming development area mentioned above; not game development for PPC.

[Brad Adrian]

I just hope that their focus on "mobile gaming" doesn't hinge entirely on the mobile phone-type. PDA gaming is big, but doesn't necessarily have the same kind of business model as phone-based, which can often generate recurring streams of revenues.

[arutha]

I wonder if this will have any significance for the gaming scene on Pocket PCs. Jamdat is the company that gobbled up Hexacto a few years back. Hexacto was an innovative company in its heyday but fell silent after the buyout (although Jamdat continued to sell the games). I'm guessing that they'll continue to support the more profitable and much larger phone market under EA (who hasn't shown much interest in Pocket PCs), but wouldn't it be nice to FINALLY see Need for Speed released for real? :)


Good from the "churning out games" POV (ie, we're likely to see a load more for the PPC) but bad for innovation...

Expect to see Fifa06 07 08 09 10 11 etc... for the PPC... All much the same as the prior release :(

[Muntasser]

the mobile gaming market is worth $680 million?

wow. like seriously.

[CptMystic]

Good from the "churning out games" POV (ie, we're likely to see a load more for the PPC) but bad for innovation...

Expect to see Fifa06 07 08 09 10 11 etc... for the PPC... All much the same as the prior release :(

So you'd prefer fewer, all completely unique games? The buying public seems to disagree with you....

[CptMystic]

Good from the "churning out games" POV (ie, we're likely to see a load more for the PPC) but bad for innovation...

Expect to see Fifa06 07 08 09 10 11 etc... for the PPC... All much the same as the prior release :(

Give me a break...typical Internet cynicism. There must be *something* that customers want in each release, because they buy them by the millions.

How many innovative titles have YOU released?

[CptMystic]

I seem to remember some posts on the net about how EA treats their employees. But I could remember it wrong...

Yes...they pay them a lot of money/stock options/bonuses and provide top industry amenities. It's atrocious!