Electronic Arts Inc. has acquired the development team at Utah-based developer Headgate Studios Inc. EA has partnered with Headgate since 2000 to develop top franchises, such as TIGER WOODS PGA TOUR and MADDEN NFL. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The development team will remain in Bountiful, Utah, and will continue to work in partnership with the EA development teams in California and Florida. The EA Salt Lake Studio team will focus on development for the Nintendo Wii.
Vance Cook, ceo/founder of Headgate, will continue to lead the studio team as exec producer, reporting to Nick Earl, vp/gm of EA Redwood Shores/Maxis.
"Having worked with EA for the past six years, we know their teams share our work ethic, passion for creative excellence and commitment to quality," said Cook. "By joining EA, we are making official what we all already feel -- that we are part of the EA family. We couldn't be happier."
"The team at Headgate is a great fit with EA's creative team, said Paul Lee, president of EA Studios. "Their creative spirit and technical leadership have separated them from the pack. Salt Lake City is a terrific place to make games -- it's a dynamic city with a vibrant creative community and a great quality of life. We are thrilled to have them join EA."
Electronic Arts continues to take up new properties on the North American gaming Monopoly board. In late October, the videogame company started EA Chicago, hoping to attract new talent from the Midwest.
Founded in 1982, Electronic Arts Inc. (www.ea.com), headquartered in Redwood City, California, EA develops, publishes and distributes interactive software worldwide for videogame systems, personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTS, EA, EA SPORTS BIG and POGO. In fiscal 2006, EA posted revenue of $2.95 billion and had 27 titles that sold more than one million copies.
