Ea Games Cheats

The Weekly Wrap – EA eyes PopCap, TF2 goes free-to-play

Rumour – PopCap to be acquired for $ 1 billion by EA

What happened: Technically nothing, so far. But loud whispers are suggesting that EA’s fe-fi-fo-fummed its way into bed with PopCap. Since big numbers are frightening, we’ve gone ahead and translated the situation into Resident Evil 4 salesman: “I’ll boi it at a high price.”

What it means: If true, EA’s going all-in with this one, seeing as $ 1 billion is roughly 13 percent of the publisher’s total value. Odds are, EA’s seen the writing on the wall; it knows that, if it wants to remain the size of a small country/mid-sized Godzilla in this brave new triple-A-unfriendly world, it’s going to need to rule the mobile/social scene with an iron fist. Otherwise, lay-offs and snazzy new sackcloth wardrobes for everyone! Seeing as Plants vs Zombies, Bejeweled, and Peggle are the terrifying mutant offspring of a cash cow and the goose that lays golden eggs, PopCap’s an absolutely fantastic buy.

But what does this mean for PopCap? Well, of all the publishers with their own gravitational pulls, EA’s the best about allowing developers to take creative risks. PopCap’s trademark charm, then, probably won’t get too much of a white-washing. More troubling, however, is the way PopCap’s development process clashes with EA’s. PopCap’s proven to be incredibly methodical, giving each individual game and platform its full, undivided attention. EA, meanwhile, favors quick turnaround times and simultaneous multiplatform releases. When that approach works, EA makes bank. When it doesn’t, we get Dragon Age II. Our heads say that won’t deter EA from doing some strong-arming when its shareholders come a-knocking, but our hearts hope we’re wrong.

TF2 becomes the “most highly-rated” free-to-play game

What happened: Valve instantly became one of the biggest fish in free-to-play’s relatively small pond with Team Fortress 2. For a brief, shining moment, every game developer in the world thought “You know, maybe my game would be better if I added in a series of silly hats.”