EA stock drops in wake of Zynga OMGPOP buyout

Analysts and investors expected EA to snap up OMGPOP, and aren't happy to see Zynga stepping up to the plate instead.

When EA acquired Popcap last year, it was said that it had outmuscled Zynga, and the publisher had been expected to do the same in this instance - but EA's John Reseburg hinted that the massive price tag on OMGPOP wasn't justified.

"This reinforces the value of PopCap, a studio with multiple proven intellectual properties," he told GamesIndustry.

Investors and analysts didn't agree. EA was one of a number of companies rumoured to be looking at acquiring OMGPOP in the wake of Draw Something's success, and as news of Zynga's aggressive buyout broke, its stock closed on a 33 cent increase - while EA's fell nine cents.

"The question to Electronic Arts should be, 'Why didn't you buy OMGPOP?'" Asif Khan of analyst firm Panoptic Management Consultants said in response.

"Of course EA would spin it as how good their PopCap deal was, but their stock is down because they didn't buy OMGPOP."