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EA Buys ‘Angry Birds’ Publisher Chillingo For $20 Million, Doesn’t Get ‘Angry Birds’

N

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
All Things Digital has posted up a rumor that Chillingo is being bought, and it's most likely being bought by EA.

You will remember Chillingo best for publishing Angry Birds and Cut The Rope.

All Things Digital said:
What’s the Next Deal in Online Gaming? Sources Say “Angry Birds” Publisher Chillingo Could Be Next in the Hand.
by Kara Swisher
Posted on October 20, 2010 at 2:46 AM PT

The online and mobile gaming sector has been a hotbed of deal activity over the the last year, from the sale of Playdom for $750 million and Tapulous to Disney to the acquisition of Playfish by Electronic Arts for $400 million to the multitude of small developers being bought up by Zynga.

Most recently, Ngmoco was sold to Japan’s DeNA for $400 million.

So what’s the next to go? Several sources said that U.K.-based Chillingo, arguably the hottest of the downloadable game publishers–mostly via apps for the Apple iPhone and iPad–is close to a sale to a bigger company.

The likely acquirer: EA, with Intel as a dark horse candidate.

The price estimates for Chillingo range from $80 million to close to $200 million.

There are a number of other companies who could be interested in Chillingo, such as Gameloft, Activision Blizzard, DeNA and even Microsoft’s gaming unit.

But sources said EA is the one targeting Chillingo, which describes itself as working with a “a global network of independent development studios and leverages its network of marketing channels and publishing strength to promote and distribute games.”

Among Chillingo’s biggest hit titles are “Angry Birds” published by its Clickgamer division and developed by Finland’s Rovio.

Chillingo was one of the first to publish on the iPhone platform and is planning upcoming glames to be released on Google’s Android mobile operating system.

More recently, it released “Cut the Rope,” which was developed by Russia’s ZeptoLab, sold one million copies in less than 10 days and is the No. 1 paid app in the App Store.

And Chillingo recently announced a half-dozen new games for the Apple App Store.

The company also has Crystal, an open social gaming platform for the casual gaming community.

BoomTown has calls into Chillingo and EA for comment.
Click to expand...
Source: http://kara.allthingsd.com/20101020...ublisher-chillingo-could-be-next-in-the-hand/
 
J

jax (old)

Banned
They'd be better off getting groups/dev teams to develope new similarish iphone/ipad games instead of a big spend to buy the company
 
A

AirBrian

Member
To be honest, I'm a little surprised they haven't been purchased yet. And EA's purchase will probably mean a higher prices for their games.
 
L

Littleberu

Banned
Jax said:
They'd be better off getting groups/dev teams to develope new similarish iphone/ipad games instead of a big spend to buy the company
Click to expand...

It's not only the company they are buying, it's all things associated with Angry Birds, too.
 
Haunted

Haunted

Member
Never heard of either of these games, so I youtubed Angry Birds, and was surprised to see that it's a ripoff of Crush the Castle which itself is a ripoff of Castle Clout.


Originality is dead. :eek:
 
R

r3n4ud

Member
Haunted said:
Never heard of either of these games, so I youtubed Angry Birds, and was surprised to see that it's a ripoff of Crush the Castle which itself is a ripoff of Castle Clout.


Originality is dead. :eek:
Click to expand...

Been living under a rock much?!
 
NYR

NYR

Member
Haunted said:
Never heard of either of these games, so I youtubed Angry Birds, and was surprised to see that it's a ripoff of Crush the Castle which itself is a ripoff of Castle Clout.


Originality is dead. :eek:
Click to expand...
??

Angry Birds is most popular iPhone game of all time and Cut the Rope is currently the top seller in the App Store.
 
S

sixteen-bit

Member
earthisnext.gif
 
B

BobsRevenge

I do not avoid women, GAF, but I do deny them my essence.
Is Cut The Rope good? Angry Birds has completely taken over my bus rides and bathroom breaks.
 
Minsc

Minsc

Gold Member
Haunted said:
Never heard of either of these games, so I youtubed Angry Birds, and was surprised to see that it's a ripoff of Crush the Castle which itself is a ripoff of Castle Clout.


Originality is dead. :eek:
Click to expand...

Angry Birds is a simple concept that's been done before (and better), really not too far removed from 1991's Gorillas or Scorched Earth games which break it down to the most primitive form of using trajectory to throw/shoot objects at obstacles and enemies to destroy them. But the post-release support and price are where Angry Birds shines.

I wonder what Cut the Rope is a rip off of? I guess maybe it's not too different from 1992's The Incredible Machine, except you don't get to design the levels (unless they let you place objects later on), only interact with what's there.
 
S

SmokyDave

Member
Haunted said:
Never heard of either of these games, so I youtubed Angry Birds, and was surprised to see that it's a ripoff of Crush the Castle which itself is a ripoff of Castle Clout.


Originality is dead. :eek:
Click to expand...
In this instance, it's not about who did it first, it's about who did it best.

The amount of post-release content that has been added for free is exemplary and at 59p, the app is a steal.
 
Haunted

Haunted

Member
Minsc said:
Angry Birds is a simple concept that's been done before (and better), really not too far removed from 1991's Gorillas or Scorched Earth games which break it down to the most primitive form of using trajectory to throw/shoot objects at obstacles and enemies to destroy them. But the post-release support and price are where Angry Birds shines.

I wonder what Cut the Rope is a rip off of? I guess maybe it's not too different from 1992's The Incredible Machine, except you don't get to design the levels (unless they let you place objects later on), only interact with what's there.
Click to expand...
I guess the closest recent equivalent would be Splitter and Splitter 2, maybe even Ice Breakers from Nitromi.

But it's fine, there's no patents on gameplay, and it seems different enough to be its own thing.


Angry Birds looks like little more of a re-skin of CtC though, right down to the nutty physics.


SmokyDave said:
In this instance, it's not about who did it first, it's about who did it best.

The amount of post-release content that has been added for free is exemplary and at 59p, the app is a steal.
Click to expand...
Oh, absolutely. As long as it's legal and you don't infringe or anything, it's all fair game. Chillingo won't win points for originality, but a good ol fashioned bath in all their goddamn money will dry those tears. :lol
 
C

Carlisle

Member
I recently discovered cut the rope. In other news, the amount of sleep I get at night as decreased dramatically. And the time taken for shits has increased exponentially.
 
Minsc

Minsc

Gold Member
Carlisle said:
I recently discovered cut the rope. In other news, the amount of sleep I get at night as decreased dramatically. And the time taken for shits has increased exponentially.
Click to expand...

At least it's a short game, I think people finish it (100% everything) in under 8 hours? If you value your sleep, don't discover Game Dev Story whatever you do.
 
C

Carlisle

Member
Minsc said:
At least it's a short game, I think people finish it (100% everything) in under 8 hours? If you value your sleep, don't discover Game Dev Story whatever you do.
Click to expand...
I've heard a lot about it. I've looked at it, checked it out, hovered over the Buy button...
I'm really interested in Star Battalion as well. Retina display Star Fox style shooter with online co-op is jerking off the little kid in me.
 
M

Mik2121

Member
Carlisle said:
I've heard a lot about it. I've looked at it, checked it out, hovered over the Buy button...
I'm really interested in Star Battalion as well. Retina display Star Fox style shooter with online co-op is jerking off the little kid in me.
Click to expand...
Game Dev Story >>> 99.999% of the App Store apps.


Just saying... :p
 
S

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
BobsRevenge said:
Is Cut The Rope good? Angry Birds has completely taken over my bus rides and bathroom breaks.
Click to expand...

Nothing more embarassing than forgetting volume is on when you boot up Angry Birds in the stall.

"Doopa-doop-doop!"
 
S

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
Chillingo publish some good stuff.

Crystal kinda sucks, though, and it's especially redundant with Game Center now out.
 
Dr. Zoidberg

Dr. Zoidberg

Member
AirBrian said:
To be honest, I'm a little surprised they haven't been purchased yet. And EA's purchase will probably mean a higher prices for their games.
Click to expand...

Especially since Angry Birds is free on Android. I can't imagine that happening if they were owned by EA.
 
S

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
Dr. Zoidberg said:
Especially since Angry Birds is free on Android. I can't imagine that happening if they were owned by EA.
Click to expand...

It's free and ad supported, as opposed to the iPhone version, which costs 99 cents and has no ads.
 
Dr. Zoidberg

Dr. Zoidberg

Member
Stumpokapow said:
It's free and ad supported, as opposed to the iPhone version, which costs 99 cents and has no ads.
Click to expand...

That's great, but the point is it's free and I can't imagine EA would allow that. All the EA games on Android are $3-$5.
 
Minsc

Minsc

Gold Member
Speaking of Angry Birds, apparently a Halloween themed version of the game is set to release tonight.

Dr. Zoidberg said:
That's great, but the point is it's free and I can't imagine EA would allow that. All the EA games on Android are $3-$5.
Click to expand...

Doesn't EA allow plenty of their older PC titles to be distributed for free? I think 3 or 4 of the C&Cs were made free. And free, ad-based games are very popular with companies, they make a ton of money that way, probably more than if it were a .99c app.
 
D

dskillzhtown

keep your strippers out of my American football
Good move by EA. The EA ports they make for the iPhone sell bigtime. Having a developer under their belt who makes good original games would help their portfolio bigtime.
 
Dr. Zoidberg

Dr. Zoidberg

Member
Minsc said:
Doesn't EA allow plenty of their older PC titles to be distributed for free? I think 3 or 4 of the C&Cs were made free. And free, ad-based games are very popular with companies, they make a ton of money that way, probably more than if it were a .99c app.
Click to expand...

Who knows, maybe they will do that. But it would certainly be a change for them on the Android market. They don't even have any free trials or demos. My phone came with a Need for Speed demo but there doesn't seem to be any way to get it through the market or their website so from this experience I don't see this possible acquisition as beneficial.

When it comes to smartphone games, free/ad-supported + pay to remove ads for those who are bothered by them seems to be the way to go, IMO, and so far this has not been EAs practice.
 
O

oracrest

Member
dskillzhtown said:
Good move by EA. The EA ports they make for the iPhone sell bigtime. Having a developer under their belt who makes good original games would help their portfolio bigtime.
Click to expand...

Unless EA breathes down their neck, the talent eventually trickles away, and the company closes in the next 5-10 years.
 
B

BobsRevenge

I do not avoid women, GAF, but I do deny them my essence.
Najaf said:
Its a good price considering a year ago they bought Playfish for 400 million.
Click to expand...
Has anything come out of that? I have no idea what goes on in that area.
 
N

Najaf

Member
BobsRevenge said:
Has anything come out of that? I have no idea what goes on in that area.
Click to expand...

Nothing headline worthy as of yet. That was their first big jump into this new market, so hopefully they have their boots on the ground from a managerial aspect when dealing with these types of titles. I should make an OT for the investors of Gaf. I got into investing in this industry a year ago with Activision and just moved a bunch of assets into EA. Could use its own thread I suppose if there are a handful of us.
 
S

soldat7

Member
SmokyDave said:
In this instance, it's not about who did it first, it's about who did it best.

The amount of post-release content that has been added for free is exemplary and at 59p, the app is a steal.
Click to expand...

The developer support is admirable, but the game is meh. It has definitely been done better on other platforms.
 
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