Big Brands Reach New Audiences on Facebook
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Nov 02, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) today announced it has entered into
a five-year strategic relationship with Facebook(R), where more than 200
million people play games every month. The deal will create a
simplified, more accessible experience for people who play games and
purchase virtual goods on Facebook. Under the terms of the agreement,
Facebook Credits will become the exclusive payment method in EA games on
Facebook.
Pet Society(TM) and Restaurant City from Playfish(TM), a
division of EA, continue to be two of the top 10 games on Facebook
measured by daily active users, and EA has extended two of its most
popular sports franchises into successful social gaming experiences,
which are now the leading soccer and football games on Facebook. The
company also recently announced the upcoming launch of the latest
execution of the world's favorite family game brand*, MONOPOLY
for Facebook. In addition, Pogo(TM) Games(TM) on Facebook, currently in
beta, brings what has made Pogo great for more than 10 years to
an even wider audience of people who are looking for new ways to play,
share and compete with their friends. At launch, Pogo players
will have access to approximately 20 games in one location, including Pogo
favorites like Poppit!(TM) and Word Whomp as well as Hasbro
games such as SCRABBLE (in the U.S. and Canada) and BOGGLE.
"Since gaming has emerged as the most popular category of applications
on Facebook, the natural next step is for EA to broaden its relationship
with Facebook and its 500 million users," said Barry Cottle, Senior Vice
President and General Manager for EA Interactive. "Our goal is to make
the best games tailored specifically to the platforms on which people
want to play."
"We are pleased to enter into this long-term partnership with EA to make
it easier for people to purchase virtual goods across some of the most
popular games on Facebook," said Dan Rose, vice president of
partnerships and platform marketing at Facebook. "Playfish has a great
reputation for building high-quality games on Facebook, and we look
forward to working even more closely with them and the larger team at
EA."
As part of the agreement, EA will receive the same 70 percent revenue
share for Facebook Credits as is standard for all developers on Facebook.
* Since 1935, more than 275 million copies of MONOPOLY have been
sold in 111 countries and 40 languages.
About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is
a leading global interactive entertainment software company. Founded in
1982, the Company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive
software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, wireless
devices and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under
four brand names: EA SPORTS(TM), EA(TM), EA Mobile(TM) and POGO(TM). In fiscal 2010,
EA posted GAAP net revenue of $3.7 billion and had 27 titles that sold
more than one million units. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com.
More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can
be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.
EA, EA SPORTS, EA Mobile, POGO, Poppit! are trademarks of Electronic
Arts Inc. Playfish and Pet Society are trademarks of Electronic Arts
Ltd. MONOPOLY, SCRABBLE and BOGGLE are trademarks of Hasbro. Facebook is
a registered trademark of Facebook, Inc. All other trademarks are the
property of their respective owners.
SOURCE: Electronic Arts Inc.
EA Corporate Communications
Holly Rockwood, 650-628-7323
hrockwood@ea.com
Copyright Business Wire 2010