Electronic Arts announced plans to acquire game studios BioWare and Pandemic in a transaction valued at roughly US$860 million.
BioWare and Pandemic specialised in action, adventure and role-playing development. Their projects included Mass Effect and Mercenaries 2: World in Flames.
EA expected to pay about US$620 million in cash and up to US$155 million in shares. Approximately 800 employees from the two studios were due to join the publisher.
The acquisition was intended to expand EA’s position in genres where its market share was about ten percent. It followed the company’s earlier purchase of German developer Phenomic.
