Macclesfield games publisher sold for £12m
A MACCLESFIELD-based mobile games company has been snapped up by US-based games publishing giant Electronic Arts.
Chillingo is a mobile gaming publisher whose titles include the popular Angry Birds title, which was developed by Finnish games company Rovio. It works with more than 90 studios and has access to over 1,600 games developers worldwide and is responsible for publishing titles such as iDracula, Modern Conflict, Helsing’s Fire, Predators and Cut the Rope for the iPhone, iPad and Google Android platforms.
The business, has been bought Electronic Arts’ mobile arm EA Mobile for an undisclosed sum. However, the deal is widely reported to be worth around $20m (£12m).
Prior to the deal, Chillingo was majority-owned by directors Joe Wee and Christopher Byatte.
EA, which has global revenues of more than $3.7bn, said that the deal would increase the market leading position that its EA Mobile arm enjoys on the Apple platform and strengthens its position the world’s biggest wireless entertainment publisher.
“The acquisition combines Chillingo’s expertise in cultivating the ideas of independent developers with EA’s global reach in mobile publishing,” the company said. “Chillingo is widely recognized for publishing highly original and successful games from the developer community.
However, it added that it was “committed to preserving Chillingo’s independence” and would alllow the Macclesfield-based business the freedom to continue cultivating relationships with existing games developers.
