EA makes new social studio acquisition

Electronic Arts has acquired Californian outfit KlickNation as part of its wider strategy to assemble a diverse fleet of social games studios.

Financial terms of the buyout were not disclosed.

Sacramento based KlickNation is perhaps best known for its Facebook game Superhero City – a social title that is targeted at the young male ‘core’ audience.

The group is to be renamed BioWare Sacramento and will be run locally by KlickNation CEO Mark Otero.

"While developing social RPG experiences, we held BioWare as a role model for storytelling and game design," said Otero.

"Joining with BioWare and EA is an opportunity to realise our vision for bringing high-quality RPG titles to the fast-growing, highly-engaged core gamers looking for deeper experiences on social platforms."

The deal brings another social studio to EA’s BioWare division, which already owns the mobile and casual outfit BioWare San Francisco.

The BioWare group also owns several core triple-A studios – working on projects such as the Star Wars MMO, Mass Effect and Dragon Age – but the latest social additions bring diversity to its output.

Ray Muzyka, the general manager of the BioWare label said KlickNation “will bring BioWare and EA franchises to the growing audience of core gamers who are looking for high quality, rich gameplay experiences on social platforms".

EA has been relentless in its effort to expand to casual, mobile and social audiences – while refining its core output to “fewer, bigger and better” titles.

The publishing giant in recent years has spent more than a billion dollars on companies such as Playfish, PopCap, Firemint and Chillingo.