EA has acquired the game-maker Playfish andif you own a MySpace account, Facebook account, or an iPhone then you may have heard of the company. Playfish have created popular games such as Who Has The Biggest Brain? and Crazy Planets. Playfish brings fourth a huge opportunity for EA to expand its grasp to social networking, with established games already on Facebook and MySpace. EA can only benefit from this acquisition.
If you’re wondering how much this little transaction drained EA’s pockets. Well, it was only a slim $275 million with a $25 million equity retention deal, but Playfish CEO and co-founder Kristian Segerstrale seems pumped for the fusion.
Playfish seems happy, but as has just been announced today EA will be laying off 1,500 employees, or 17% of their workforce. Apparently the reason for these lay-offs comes in the form of a “Cost Reduction Plan”. The plans for this mass firing will be finished by March 2010. Okay, I’m not going to beat around the bush, it’s obvious that the $300 million invested in Playfish is going to take a solid chunk of the money EA had, so they’re going to have to make cuts. EA’s Chief Financial Officer Eric Brown even mentions the cuts and Playfish in the same sentence… probably not the best move Mr.Brown.
“The industry is undergoing dramatic transformation and joining EA is the ideal opportunity for us to push forward our goals to lead in the social entertainment evolution on a faster and much larger scale.”
EA has been all about lay-offs as of late, they broke up with Pandemic Brisbane and merged BioWare and Mythic all just this year! EA seems to have a plan though and we hope it turns out though. If your one of the 1,500 people that have been let-go by EA we here at Game Rant wish you the best.
“Today we are announcing a significant cut in our operating expenses and the acquisition of a leader in social games, Playfish.”
How do you think EA will impact Playfish? What’s your take on the recent employee cut?
Source: 1up.com
