 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "EA Mobile" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(February 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 2004; 21 years ago (2004) |
| Founder | John Batter |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Key people | Jeff Karp (SVP, EA Mobile)[1][2] |
| Revenue |  $637 million (2017)[3][4] |
Number of employees | 800+ (2017) |
| Parent | Electronic Arts |
| Subsidiaries |
|
EA Mobile Inc. is an Americanvideo game development studio of thepublisherElectronic Arts (EA) for mobile platforms.
The studio's primary business is producing games formobile phones. It has also produced other entertainment-related software such asringtone applications, as well as games for other platforms such asPDAs andpersonal computers. EA Mobile produces games in a wide variety ofgenres, such asfighting games,puzzle games, andsports titles. Their most well-known products to date includeThe Sims,Need for Speed, andFIFA as well as a mobile conversion of the widely known puzzle gameBejeweled, a conversion forPocket PC of the PC gameWorms World Party and theirNFL,NBA, andMLB -branded games, in addition to holding the license for the mobile versions ofTetris and variousMonopoly games.Tetris by EA Mobile is thebest-selling paidmobile game of all time, and third best-selling game of all time altogether.[5][6] They have relationships with all majorNorth American wireless service carriers, such asSprint,Verizon, andAT&T, as well as many minor North American and some majorEuropean andAsian carriers. They have offices inLos Angeles,Montreal,London,Tokyo,Hyderabad,Honolulu,Bucharest andSão Paulo.
As a publishing company in the wireless video game industry, EA Mobile's primary service is linking game developers, who generally develop the games from idea to playablesoftware, withwirelesstelecommunications service providers or "carriers", who sell the games to their customers. To this end, they maintain strong relationships with major companies in both groups. In addition, they create, purchase, and maintain proprietarysoftware libraries to aid developers with whom they have working relationships, a common practice among electronic game publishers. They also do the majority of the work regardingquality assurance for their games.
EA Mobile was founded in 2004 by a group of EA company veterans. The group was formed/led by John Batter (General Manager) and included Linda Chaplin (head of US sales), Lincoln Wallen (CTO), John Burn (head of European sales), Jay Miller (US sales) and Mike McCabe (head of Asian sales). EA Mobile launched the division and products simultaneously in the US, Europe and Asia.
In 2006, EA Mobile expanded its footprint by acquiring JAMDAT Mobile. JAMDAT was founded by Scott Lahman and Zack Norman, two ex-Activision executives, and Austin Murray in March 2000. They were joined in November of that year byMitch Lasky, who had also worked at Activision, who became theCEO of JAMDAT. JAMDATwent public in late 2003 and gained immediate success after the release of severalThe Lord of the Rings tie-in mobile games.[7] JAMDAT acquiredMontreal game studio Hexacto in May 2003, increasing its game portfolio.[8]
On December 9, 2005, EA announced their purchase of JAMDAT for $680 million. The acquisition closed on February 14, 2006, and the JAMDAT name was retired.
On August 8, 2007, it was announced that Barry Cottle will join EA Mobile as the new Senior Vice President and General Manager.
In October 2010, EA Mobile announced the acquisition of UK-based iPhone and iPad games publisher Chillingo for US$20 million in cash. While Chillingo publishes the popularCut the Rope game, the deal did not include those properties.
In July 2015, Samantha Ryan became the new SVP and General Manager of EA Mobile replacing Frank Gibeau. And the following year in a restructuring across parent company EA, she also added oversight ofMaxis andBioWare.
As of 2017, EA Mobile have an annual revenue topping almost $700 million and employees around 800 people.[9]
In May 2022, it was announced that EA Mobile along withEA Capital Games will partner withMiddle-earth Enterprises to release a new mobile RPG titledThe Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-earth.[10]The game was eventually released on 10 May 2023.[11] It received mixed to positive reviews generally, but was forced to shut down prematurely just more than a year after worldwide launch,[12] amidst the turmoil of the2023–2024 video game industry layoffs that affected Electronic Arts' development projects.
Months after shutting downHeroes of Middle Earth, Electronic Arts then announced the shutdown ofThe Simpsons: Tapped Out after twelve years of operation. The game shut down on January 24, 2025.[13]
{{cite web}}:|last2= has generic name (help)