Electronic Arts is acquiring the mobile game developer behind Kim Kardashian: Hollywood. The video game company announced that it is buying Glu Mobile in a $ 2.4 billion all-cash deal that companies hope to close in the quarter ended June 30. EA CEO Andrew Wilson said his company decided on the deal because he believes “the mobile platform is the fastest growing platform on the planet”.
With the acquisition of Glu, EA is doubling the size of its mobile business and expanding its portfolio. Besides Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, Glu is also known to develop Diner Dash: adventures and other celebrity games with names like Britney Spears, Nicki Minaj, Jason Statham and Gordon Ramsay. He was the developer behind Taylor Swift’s now defunct social networking app, too. Glu’s titles are mainly free-to-play games with microtransactions, which is a business model that EA previously said it wants to continue to pursue. After all, microtransactions are big business for EA, and it earns billions from that source of income.
Glu and his 800 employees will work independently, but will be able to develop titles based on EA’s intellectual property alongside their own projects. They will also be able to take advantage of EA’s marketing and global presence to increase the audience of their games. Wilson explained that Glu still does not have “great international reach”, despite his success, and this is where his company can help it grow.
We look forward to welcoming the Glu Mobile team at Electronic Arts and creating the best mobile team in the industry! @glumobile https://t.co/9vQxuhzO81
– Electronic Arts (@EA) February 8, 2021