KlickNation Becomes BioWare Sacramento, BioWare Social Formed

The BioWare “brand” has expanded to Sacramento, CA, as EA has just announced the acquisition of social RPG developer KlickNation.  The SuperHero City, Age of Champions, and Six Gun Galaxy developer will be added to BioWare San Francisco, and the two units will become the new “BioWare Social” label:

EA Acquires KlickNation

Leading Social RPG Developer Joins EA’s BioWare Label to Lead Growth in Core Social Gaming

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) today announced the acquisition of KlickNation, a developer of free-to-play social role-playing games (RPGs). The acquisition further strengthens EA’s position as a leader in social games, increasing the company’s expertise and technological resources in the fast-growing core social games genre. KlickNation is now BioWare Sacramento, part of EA’s BioWareâ„¢ label. The team joins BioWare’s existing social gaming team at BioWare San Francisco to form a new business unit, BioWare Social, focused on the development of RPG experiences for social networks and led by former KlickNation CEO Mark Otero.

“KlickNation’s expertise in building innovative and compelling RPGs for social platforms makes them a seamless tuck-in with the BioWare team at EA,” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, Senior Vice President and General Manager of EA’s BioWare label. “We share the same creative values. The new BioWare Social unit will bring BioWare and EA franchises to the growing audience of core gamers who are looking for high quality, rich gameplay experiences on social platforms.”

“While developing social RPG experiences, we held BioWare as a role model for storytelling and game design,” said Mark Otero, General Manager, BioWare Social and co-founder of KlickNation. “Joining with BioWare and EA is an opportunity to realize our vision for bringing high-quality RPG titles to the fast-growing, highly-engaged core gamers looking for deeper experiences on social platforms.”

KlickNation develops and publishes games for social platforms including Facebook®. Known for combining in-depth storylines with high-quality graphics, KlickNation has consistently delivered repeated breakthroughs in the social RPG genre since the release of its first game in 2009. SuperHero City was the first social game to feature animated battles; Age of Champions introduced the first mass combat battle system in a social game; and Six Gun Galaxy uses a newly-developed engine to deliver a completely flash-based isometric game experience.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS) is a global leader in digital interactive entertainment. The Company’s game franchises are offered as both packaged goods products and online services delivered through Internet-connected consoles, personal computers, mobile phones and tablets. EA has more than 100 million registered players and operates in 75 countries.

In fiscal year 2011, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $3.6 billion. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, EA is recognized for critically acclaimed, high-quality blockbuster franchises such as The Simsâ„¢, Madden NFL, FIFA Soccer, Need for Speedâ„¢, Battlefield, and Mass Effectâ„¢. More information about EA is available at http://info.ea.com.

About BioWare

The BioWare label is a division of EA which crafts high quality, multiplatform role-playing, MMO and strategy games, focused on emotionally engaging, rich stories with unforgettable characters and vast worlds to discover. Since 1995, BioWare has created some of the world’s most critically acclaimed titles and franchises, including Baldur’s Gateâ„¢, Neverwinter Nightsâ„¢, Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republicâ„¢, Jade Empireâ„¢, Mass Effect and Dragon Ageâ„¢. BioWare currently operates in eight locations across the world, including Edmonton (Alberta, Canada), Montreal (Quebec, Canada), Austin (Texas), Fairfax (Virginia), San Francisco (California), Los Angeles (California), Galway (Ireland) and Sacramento (California).

In 2008, BioWare was acquired by Electronic Arts, a leading global interactive entertainment publisher. In 2011 EA created the BioWare Label, alongside EA Games, EA SPORTSâ„¢ and EA Play. For more information on BioWare, visit www.bioware.com, or follow us on Twitter® at www.twitter.com/biofeed. To join the millions of fans already registered with the BioWare community, go to http://social.bioware.com.

Is it just me, or are there too many BioWare games to keep track of now?