EA linked to $1bn PopCap swoop

One leading tech site claims to have it on good authority that EA is on the verge of one of the largest acquisitions ever seen in the games industry.

If true, TechCrunch‘s claims that EA is the mystery bidder behind a supposed $1bn swoop for PopCap would dwarf the $17m purchase of Chillingo and even the $300k buyout of Playfish.

Some of the industry’s biggest acquisitions to date include EA’s purchase of BioWare and Pandemic owners VG Holdings for $860m and, of course, the $18.9bn merger of Activision and Vivendi.

PopCap is the home of some of the casual gaming sector’s biggest IPs such as Bejeweled, Plants vs Zombies, Peggle, Bookworm and Zuma.

If the acquisition turns out to be true it would position EA as THE powerhouse brand in the casual market.

And with EA so far leading the publisher tables in the core console market in 2011 it would arguably make it the single most influential company in the entire games industry.