Electronic Arts, known for its sports franchises, is investing billions of dollars into a mobile gaming market projected to reach $272 billion by 2030.
Mobile is the fastest-growing gaming category, making up more than half of the $175 billion global games business, per Newzoo.
EA’s recent acquisitions showcase a renewed prioritization of mobile gaming.
- It acquired Codemasters, the studio behind “F1 Mobile Racing,” in February for $1.2 billion.
- It purchased Glu Mobile, publisher of “MLB Tap Sports Baseball,” in April for $2.4 billion.
- Last week, it acquired “Golf Clash” maker Playdemic from Warner Bros. Games for $1.4 billion.
With new studios under its belt, EA is better positioned to compete with mobile giants.
“Genshin Impact,” a role-playing video game developed and published by Shanghai-based MiHoYo, became the fastest mobile title to reach $1 billion in player spending on the App Store and Google Play earlier this year, beating out Niantic’s “Pokémon GO.”
Zynga, the mobile game developer behind “Words with Friends,” has plans to build its own empire. Last month, it acquired mobile advertising platform Chartboost for $250 million and “Golf Rival” developer StarLark for $525 million in cash and stock.
Overall, consumers spent $1.7 billion per week on mobile games in the first half of 2021.
