It's official: Electronic Arts completes PopCap buyout

One of the largest technology acquisitions in the Seattle area is now in the books. On Friday, Electronic Arts completed its buyout of PopCap Games, the maker of Plants vs. Zombies, Bejeweled and Zuma, reports All Things D.

The deal valued PopCap at $750 million in initial payments, with the total value of $1.3 billion over time if certain milestones are met. As we previously reported, the acquisition is one of the biggest of a privately-held company in Seattle tech history.

PopCap executives have stressed that very little will change at the game studio, known for producing high-quality titles across various mobile, social networking and traditional platforms.

“…EA as a company has huge game integrity, and they really are, from (EA CEO) John Riccitiello on down, focused on making great games,” co-founder John Vechey told GeekWire last month. “To me, that cultural alignment is so huge. Just the amount of time that we’ve spent with John Riccitiello talking about games (vs. business strategy). That, to me, is something I feel good about. That really was a big thing for me.”