Electronic Arts Inc

Electronic Arts Inc., maker of computer games such as "The Sims," is investing $167 million for a 15% stake in China's The9 Ltd., sending The9's shares as much as 18% higher. Redwood City, Calif.-based Electronic Arts also licensed its "FIFA Online" soccer game to Shanghai-based The9 for distribution in China, the companies said. Electronic Arts is expanding in Asia by partnering with regional game companies.

In the video game world, "respawn" means a character that was killed off has come back to life. So when two of the top creative talents in the industry form a new independent company called Respawn Entertainment, they are sending an unmistakable message to colleagues, competitors and fans. The pair, Jason West and Vincent Zampella, who played key roles in the development of the multibillion-dollar military shooter franchise Call of Duty, have been embroiled in a bitter dispute with their former employer, Activision Blizzard Inc., which fired them a month ago in a move that shook the industry with the force of a rocket-propelled grenade.

Video game maker Electronic Arts Inc. will ask shareholders this month to approve a plan to let employees swap "underwater" options for restricted shares in an effort to boost morale at the company, whose stock has lost about a third of its value in the last 12 months. "This is an effort to retain valuable employees," EA spokesman Jeff Brown said.

Hammered by a steep drop in the sale of traditional packaged video games, Electronic Arts Inc. on Monday said it would cut 1,500 jobs, more than 16% of its workforce, even as the game publisher announced plans to acquire online game developer Playfish Inc. in a deal valued at up to $400 million. The dual moves -- one aimed at trimming expenses by about $100 million a year and the other at increasing profits -- came as the Redwood City, Calif., firm released its fiscal second-quarter earnings showing a 17% decline in revenue from its packaged games business, reflecting an industrywide malaise.

Electronic Arts Inc., the world's largest video game maker, reorganized its businesses into four divisions to focus on key game categories. The units are EA Sports, EA Games, EA Casual Entertainment and the Sims, Redwood City, Calif.-based Electronic Arts said. The change comes as Electronic Arts tries to expand its casual games business to attract fans of Nintendo Co.'s top-selling Wii console.

Top video game maker Electronic Arts Inc. said quarterly profit and revenue would be "well below" earlier estimates because of lackluster holiday sales. Its shares fell 2%. Redwood City, Calif.-based Electronic Arts did not give specific numbers, but the company previously expected a third-quarter profit, excluding some charges, of $1.18 to $1.28 a share on revenue of $1.48 billion to $1.58 billion. The company's shares fell 2% in extended trading to $52.02. The stock rose more than 1.

Shares of Electronic Arts Inc., the country's largest video game publisher, climbed on news that it had gained exclusive rights to use National Football League teams and players in its video games. EA, maker of the popular "Madden NFL" franchise, said late Monday that it had signed five-year agreements with the NFL and the NFL Players' Assn. Terms weren't disclosed. The stock of the Redwood City, Calif., company rose $3.04, or 5%, to $60.61 on Nasdaq.

Electronic Arts Inc. bought privately held SingShot Media, creator and operator of an online karaoke site, in a bid to bolster music-focused, user-generated content in its games. The Redwood City, Calif.-based video game publisher didn't disclose financial terms of the deal, which closed last week. SingShot users can post renditions of their favorite songs, share them with friends, customize their recordings with photos and videos and have their work rated by peers.

Broderbund Software Under SEC Investigation: The Novato, Calif.-based company is the target of an "informal inquiry" by the Securities and Exchange Commission for trading the day before it announced it was being acquired by Electronic Arts Inc., a company spokeswoman said. SEC officials declined to comment. Shares of the largest U.S. publisher of educational software rose about 22% in the three days of trading before acquisition plans were announced Feb.

French video game maker Ubisoft Entertainment and U.S. rival Electronic Arts Inc. said they were in discussions, prompting speculation that the French company could be an acquisition target. "I would not say there's negotiations taking place, but we are having the kind of dialogue that you would expect of a large shareholder with the company," said Jeff Brown, a spokesman for Redwood City, Calif.-based Electronic Arts, a major shareholder in Ubisoft.

Need for Speed, Electronic Arts Inc.'s racing franchise, has raced past the 100-million copies mark, making it one of the top five bestselling video game properties of all time. (The other four franchises in the elite 100-million club are the Sims, Mario, Pokemon and Grand Theft Auto.) Developed in 1994, Need for Speed has evolved from a game made by a dozen developers to roughly 100 designers, programmers and perfectionists who obsess over cars. EA has cranked out 15 Need for Speed titles, but it wasn't until Need for Speed Underground came out in 2003 that sales got turbocharged.

For Electronic Arts Inc., it was a tale of two earnings. One report, based on commonly used accounting standards known as GAAP, was grim. EA said Tuesday that sales plunged nearly 20% to $644 million in its fiscal first quarter ended June 30 compared with the same period a year earlier. Losses swelled to $234 million, or 72 cents a share, from $95 million, or 30 cents, last year. The other report was positive. Revenue grew 34% to $816 million from $609 million in 2008.

On the show floor at the Electronic Entertainment Expo this week, Electronic Arts' Brutal Legend has been one of the hottest and most heavily promoted video games. Behind the scenes, however, the game is at the center of a brewing legal war. Activision Blizzard Inc., the biggest U.S. video game publisher, filed a $15-million lawsuit Wednesday against Brutal Legend developer Double Fine Productions in an attempt to block competitor Electronic Arts Inc.

Video game publisher Electronic Arts Inc. posted a smaller net loss for its fourth quarter as the company continued to slash costs in a quarter with fewer hit game launches. Redwood City, Calif.-based EA also reaffirmed its guidance for the current fiscal year, and Chief Financial Officer Eric Brown said the company was "ahead of schedule" on its cost-cutting measures that include eliminating 1,100 jobs. EA posted a loss of $42 million, or 13 cents a share, less than half the loss of $94 million, or 30 cents, in the same period a year earlier.

John Madden's retirement from television won't mean an end to the lucrative video game franchise that bears his name. Madden NFL has sold 70 million copies and rung up more than $2 billion in sales since it came out in 1989, making the series one of the best-selling in the video game industry's history. Electronic Arts Inc. says it plans to keep churning out new versions.

Electronic Arts Inc. has hit the reset button on its video game business. The publisher of such franchises as the Sims and Madden NFL posted a deeper quarterly loss Tuesday. It also said it would cut 100 more jobs and close three more facilities than announced in December because of disappointing holiday sales. The Redwood City, Calif., company now plans to shed 11% of its workforce, about 1,100 people, from the payroll this year and shut down a dozen facilities.

Electronic Arts Inc., the maker of "Madden NFL" and "Nascar" video games, will create titles based on Hasbro Inc.'s Monopoly, Scrabble and Yahtzee board games to attract family-oriented consumers. Electronic Arts also bought exclusive rights to Hasbro brands including "Nerf" and "Tonka" for as many as 10 years, the company said. Financial terms were not disclosed. The Hasbro titles will be created by Electronic Arts' casual entertainment unit and go on sale next year.

Electronic Arts Inc. said it will sell computer games based on Danish toy maker Lego's characters and interlocking plastic bricks. Financial terms of the three-year deal weren't disclosed. Redwood City, Calif.-based Electronic Arts will market and distribute at least 30 games developed by Lego and, beginning Jan. 1, will sell current Lego games. Closely held Lego, based in Billund, Denmark, said the agreement doesn't include a license to Electronic Arts for the use of Lego characters.

Video game giant Electronic Arts Inc., facing a weakening economy and disappointing sales in North America and Europe, said Friday that it would slash 1,000 jobs, or about 10% of its workforce, and close at least nine of its 50 facilities. The moves, which are expected to save $120 million a year, are an expansion of cutbacks announced just two months ago by the publisher of the Madden NFL football franchise, the Sims and other titles.

Once considered impervious to a stormy economy, the video game sector is starting to show signs of strain. Electronic Arts Inc., which produces such franchises as the Sims and Madden NFL, said Tuesday that it probably would miss sales and profit targets for its fiscal year because of disappointing holiday sales in North America and Europe.