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EA acquires ThreeSF

By Emma Boyes, GameSpot UKPosted Jun 4, 2008 7:01 am PT

Megapublisher snaps up Shawn Fanning's online community for gamers.

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.

81 Comments

  • joshuakage

    Posted Jun 13, 2008 3:07 pm PT

    ea is awsome with me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • user5689

    Posted Jun 7, 2008 8:46 pm PT

    Bioware is either EA's redemption, or EA is Biowares doom...

  • war_gears

    Posted Jun 6, 2008 8:09 am PT

    EA have terrible servers coz i tried to play army of two online i couldnt even take a single step without it lagging for a minute

  • gamernut

    Posted Jun 6, 2008 7:45 am PT

    EA sucks!!!!!!!

  • dennis8

    Posted Jun 5, 2008 8:54 am PT

    EA shud stop thinking about the the money and start thinking about the quality of the games...

  • zunit88

    Posted Jun 5, 2008 2:38 am PT

    nice move EA !!!

  • generalvonngene

    Posted Jun 4, 2008 9:42 pm PT

    THERE'S STILL BATTLEFIELD 3, HALF LIFE 2 (CUZ VALVE HAD A FEUD WITH SIERRA) TO SAVE EA AND LOTR CONQUEST, DRAGON AGE, SABOTEUR AND MANY UPCOMING TITLES TO BRING THE STOCK PRICE AND THE $$$ SKY HIGH...

  • knight0029

    Posted Jun 4, 2008 7:13 pm PT

    Interesting.

  • sphinx-shadow

    Posted Jun 4, 2008 7:13 pm PT

    Smart move for EA they know what there doing.

  • mylsd

    Posted Jun 4, 2008 7:03 pm PT

    damn that Shawn Fanning is one smart, rich mofo

  • ctg867

    Posted Jun 4, 2008 6:41 pm PT

    In other news, the sun rose today.

  • Pete5506

    Posted Jun 4, 2008 6:33 pm PT

    Ea is going down hill

  • NA3D

    Posted Jun 4, 2008 6:11 pm PT

    Slansing, GMC makes the Hummer, not Ford. Either way, I own a Toyota because gas cost too much to buy an American brand. (Even though Ford is moving to other countries to build cars because it is cheaper, and Toyota and Honda are moving to America because they buy cars for high prices.)

    EA does drop in stock price this time of year every year, but for the past 3 years EA hasn't dropped nearly this much. The last crappy thing I gave money to was Wii Play, but the Wii Mote and few mini games I enjoyed from it are worth it. EA games though... I think 2005 was the last year I paid for an unused game of theirs.

    You don't have to stop buying games from EA, just not in a way EA will get money from it. If you get a used game from EB, GameStop, a friend, Ebay, or other sources... Then EA doesn't profit. After talking to so many and befriending people who have worked for EA. I dont feel bad for them. The people who lose their jobs typically end up in much better situations. May it be a lead Artist in Insomniac, a Art Director for Take Two, a Lead Programmer from Sony Entertainment, or many other positions and people who are in better places and now much happier. Layoffs for these guys do NOT mean the end of the world. Some of them can create their own studios as well.

    EA is the woe of the gaming world. Once a smaller studio does something great or is even getting started EA is swooping in. At the same time, these SELL OUTS are at fault just as much as EA, but since they are now parts of EA. The blame still only goes to EA.

    So I guess in the end, dont stop buying EA games, just quit buying unused EA games. You know you can find the game at EB, GameSpot, Ebay, or elsewhere for cheaper. Someone already gave EA the money for those games. So while it might result in someone buying a new one because there are no more used ones, at least we will ensure that that is the case.

  • anarchy69yoda

    Posted Jun 4, 2008 5:20 pm PT

    ea's headin for the dumps. but this was interesting

  • peeweeshift

    Posted Jun 4, 2008 4:43 pm PT

    No room for small developers...too bad. EA still has some nice titles but they are budget types of games. Everyone who expects more and buying for full price is at fault.

  • AncientDozer

    Posted Jun 4, 2008 3:29 pm PT

    Well said, Slansing. Well said. I agree! Stop blaming EA for all the woes of the (gaming) world.

  • Slansing

    Posted Jun 4, 2008 2:53 pm PT

    If you don't like a game, don't buy it - and tell your uninformed friends not to buy it. The problem isn't necessarily EA, it's the fact that people are spending money on games that don't deserve it. This is why there aren't good Wii games, it's not cost effective to make a good one when a crappy one with good marketting will sell just as well.

    Don't boycott a brand since the brand can still have decent stuff, boycott bad games in general. Don't boycott ford because they sell Hummers, buy a hybrid ford escape and Ford will get the picture. Ford closed it's SUV plants in the US, EA closed it's Chicago studio. If it doesn't make money, it will get shut down - so stop giving crappy things money...

    (That said, please don't forget to be sympethetic for those who lost / are losing jobs)

    Not that the original poster will ever read it, but the 4 year low of EA stock is (likely) the same as every other company. In 2005-2006 large investments were made to make the jump to next gen platforms. That jump has been made and stocks will only go up. Even in our current recession, game companies will not likely be hit - look at game stocks with the tech bubble bursting or Sept 11th.

  • PandaBear86

    Posted Jun 4, 2008 2:31 pm PT

    okassar, if we boycott EA games, then we can help them lose market share to proper games developers. EA is a joke.

  • onuruca

    Posted Jun 4, 2008 2:30 pm PT

    die EA die!

  • okassar

    Posted Jun 4, 2008 1:40 pm PT

    Well hears one tiny little problem with the proposal of "I hope EA goes out of business" because if they're behind Madden and so many games and are still making so much money and are monopolizing the damn industry,how the **** are they going to go out of business.

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