EA is purchasing Glu Mobile for $2.4 billion

Electronic Arts is acquiring the mobile game developer behind Kim Kardashian: Hollywood. The video game company has announced that it’s purchasing Glu Mobile in a $2.4 billion all-cash deal that the companies are expecting to close in the quarter ending on June 30th. EA Chief Executive Andrew Wilson said his company decided on the deal, because it believes “mobile is the fastest-growing platform on the planet.”

With Glu’s acquisition, EA is doubling the size of its mobile business and expand its portfolio. In addition to Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, Glu is also known for developing Diner Dash: Adventures and other celebrity games with the likes of Britney Spears, Nicki Minaj, Jason Statham and Gordon Ramsay. It was the developer behind Taylor Swift’s now-defunct social networking app, as well. Glu’s titles are mostly free-to-play games with microtransactions, which is a business model EA previously said it wants to keep pursuing. Microtransactions are big business for EA, after all, and it makes billions from that income source.

Glu and its 800 employees will operate independently, but they will be able to develop titles based on EA’s intellectual property alongside their own projects. They’ll also be able to take advantage of EA’s marketing and global presence to grow audiences for its games. Wilson explained that Glu doesn’t have “great international reach yet” despite its success, and that’s where his company can help it grow.