EA buys out Angry Birds publisher
Chillingo feathers its nest.
The publisher of monster App Store hit Angry Birds has been snapped up by EA.
According to Reuters, EA has paid $20 million for the British publisher behind some of the most successful mobile phone games of recent years, including Angry Birds, Cut The Rope and the awesome Helsing's Fire.
EA wouldn't confirm the figure but marketing exec Holly Rockwood did say, "By acquiring Chillingo, EA Mobile is increasing its market leadership on the Apple platform as well as reaffirming its position as the world's leading wireless entertainment publisher."
EA is currently making serious strides into the mobile marketplace. It recently threw its weight behind Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 OS, as well as announcing a heap of new titles for the iPhone and iPad.
Angry Birds, Finnish studio Rovio's shockingly addictive timewaster, has sold a whopping 6.5 million units since launch. Take that, Halo: Reach.
Rovio recently announced plans to bring the game to DS, PlayStation 3 and PSP. You can't fault its ambition – it's trying to get a movie version off the ground too.
Interestingly, Rovio still owns the IP/brand of Angry Birds. Apparently Chillingo only published iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad-versions of the game. Nokia, Palm and Android versions are self-published by Rovio.