EA acquires ThreeSF

It might still be wrestling with its potential takeover of Take-Two, but that hasn't stopped Electronic Arts from splashing out elsewhere.

In a short statement released this week, the company announced that it had purchased ThreeSF, parent company of Rupture. Financial terms of the takeover were not disclosed, although the LA Times has stated that "a person familiar with the deal" had priced it at some $30 million. According to EA, more information about its plans for ThreeSF will be available in the next few weeks.

Rupture is the brainchild of Shawn Fanning, famous for building Napster, one of the first and most popular peer-to-peer file-sharing programs. Fanning decided to set up Rupture, described as a virtual social community for online gamers, after he ran into problems communicating with other players in World of Warcraft.

According to the Web site, Rupture now supports not only his original choice of WOW, but also Halo 3, Team Fortress 2, Madden NFL 08, and Guitar Hero III.