Gaming giant Electronic Arts (EA) is pushing further into the mobile gaming space by buying out Aussie game studio Firemint, creators of iPad sensation ‘Flight Control.’The move comes just months after Firemint melded with another Australian studio, Infinite Interactive.
EA identified mobile content on iPads and iPhones as growing year-over-year in its recently released financial outcomes from over the last fiscal year. EA garnered revenues of US$188 million in digital revenues that includes this area of mobile gaming in the last quarter.
The 60-man operation at Firemint , which has produced titles like Flight Control and Real Racing, was sold to EA for somewhere between US$20 and $40 million. The deal is anticipated to become part of EA Interactive (the mobile wing of EA) in four weeks.
Firemint CEO Rob Murray has assured local fans that the studio won’t be moving off-shore and that they would still hold autonomy over their developments.
EA has made over 30 acquisitions of gaming studios as it has grown over the last three decades.
