Gaming publisher Electronic Arts announced it will acquire social network game creator Playfish for approximately $275 million in cash and roughly $25 million in equity retention arrangements--per terms of the deal, Playfish is also entitled to additional variable cash considerations up to a maximum of $100 million, contingent upon achieving certain performance milestones prior to the end of 2011. Playfish brings with it games installed across platforms including iPhone, Android, Facebook and MySpace--its 10 titles, including Pet Society, Restaurant City and Country Story, boast more than 60 million active monthly users driving over a billion gameplay sessions each month. Playfish will operate within Electronic Arts' EA Interactive unit, which focuses on the web and mobile segments--the firm says EA Mobile now boasts 34 percent mobile gaming market share in the U.S.

For more on the EA/Playfish deal:
- read this release [1]

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