NEW YORK (AP) — Electronic Arts has snapped up Chillingo, the publisher behind the popular iPhone game of the moment, "Angry Birds." But the deal doesn't include the company that created the game and owns the rights to it, Rovio Mobile.
According to a person close to the deal, EA paid less than $20 million in cash for Chillingo, which is based in the U.K. This person requested anonymity because the figure isn't being made public.
EA spokeswoman Holly Rockwood confirmed the purchase but would not disclose a price or confirm whether it was under $20 million.
"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 said in a statement.
"Angry Birds," which is also available on Android phones, was the second most popular iPhone game on Apple's App Store as of Wednesday afternoon. It costs 99 cents to download and the object is to catapult tiny birds at cartoon pigs protected in increasingly hard-to-break enclosures. Other games Chillingo publishes include "Cut the Rope," a popular puzzle game.
The deal follows Japanese mobile Internet company DeNA Co.'s recent acquisition of ngmoco, a privately held iPhone game developer, for about $400 million, and signals growing interest in this burgeoning space. And last fall EA bought social networking game maker Playfish for $275 million.
Shares of Redwood City, California-based EA closed down 18 cents at $15.40.