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PopCap, the maker of popular casual games like Bejeweled and Plants vs. Zombies, is on the verge of a billion-dollar buyout, sources tell TechCrunch.
That’s a big number, but not insane — it’s a 10x multiple over PopCap’s $100 million revenue from last year.
So who’s the buyer?
Possibilities cited by the report include Zynga, a stateside video game maker like Electronic Arts, an Asian company that wants to break into the U.S. gaming market like China’s Tencent.
Or maybe it’s a big name company who wants to expand into social games — Google was recently hiring for a games product manager and last year bought (much smaller) social gaming company SocialDeck and in-game payments startup Jambool.
Microsoft also has a long relationship with PopCap, which is based in Seattle — Microsoft apparently tried to buy the company way back in 2002 for $5 million, but PopCap’s founders laughed off the deal. Good call.
Article source: SAI http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/alleyinsider/silicon_alley_insider/~3/7-dGbrGoWHU/popcap-about-to-join-the-1-billion-club-2011-6