Electronic Arts recently acquired Glu Mobile for $2.1 billion. If you’re fond of playing mobile games or simply just browsing through your App Store or Play Store, you might have come across this name once or twice. Glu Mobile is an American developer and publisher, releasing games such as Disney Sorcerer’s Arena, Diner Dash, and Kim Kardashian: Hollywood.
Electronic Arts already has a pretty packed roster of mobile gaming studios, as developers such as Chillingo, Track Twenty, Capital Games, and PopCap Games are also under its wing. Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson said that it decided to acquire Glu Mobile simply in order for Electronic Arts to further capitalize on the mobile market—much further than it already has at this point in time.
Wilson said in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz that “mobile is the biggest platform in gaming today.” He saw the potential that this industry has, especially in terms of capitalization, so he quickly grabbed the opportunity by acquiring various studios, including Glu Mobile.
We’ve agreed to be acquired by @EA! We’re thrilled – combining our mobile games with EA’s global reach and brand will enable us to deliver even more captivating interactive experiences to our players than ever before. https://t.co/561VBT0rqj
— Glu Mobile (@glumobile) February 8, 2021
Wilson further explains that with Glu Mobile, they “have an opportunity to bring together teams with complementary product portfolios and capabilities that will lead to even more great games.” The CEO also shares that the company is aware of the many possibilities that mobile gaming can offer, and Electronic Arts wants to “be in a position to lead.”
Wilson’s statement is actually quite familiar at this point, as what he’s saying now is similar to his statement back then when Electronic Arts also acquired Codemasters. During a Q3 financial report, the publisher simply stated that it wanted to utilize Codemasters’ expertise in the racing genre to be one of the leaders in the industry in terms of racing video games.
This leads us to the question: what can Glu Mobile offer the publisher? Well, Wilson says that Glu Mobile has different resources that the publisher wants to make use of. With the help of the newly acquired studio, Electronic Arts hopes to “grow their existing games, create amazing new experiences, and bring them to more players.”
At this point, it’s quite clear to see that the publisher is focused on dominating the mobile gaming industry, and it probably plans on acquiring even more big-name studios in the future in order to achieve this goal.
It has also been confirmed that none of Glu Mobile’s existing projects will be affected negatively by this acquisition, and most importantly, no employee will be laid off as well from Glu Mobile as it finalizes its transition. Electronic Arts will definitely benefit greatly from this decision, as Glu Mobile’s Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, among others, is a highly lucrative mobile game.
As briefly mentioned, Electronic Arts also acquired Codemasters and its myriad of racing games in the past, and this particular deal is already in its final stages. The publisher acquired this studio for $1.2 billion, and this was recently approved through a shareholder vote.
All Electronic Arts has to do now is make the Codemasters acquisition official in the eyes of the court to make the deal secure and final.
