EA buys Battlefield web app maker

Newsbrief: Electronic Arts has acquired the team behind the Battlelog web and mobile app for Battlefield 3, strengthening its efforts to attach online services to its major titles. Terms for the deal were not disclosed. Based in Sweden, ESN has spent the past several years working with EA and DICE to create the Battlelog service for Battlefield 3, which gives users access to game-related features like voice chat, matchmaking, forums, statistics, leaderboards, and more on their PCs or mobile devices. A number of publishers have made these ancillary services and game-centric social networks a key part of their titles in recent years, as can be seen with Activision's Call of Duty: Elite offering and Ubisoft's Ghost Recon Network web app. EA's upcoming title Medal of Honor: Warfighter will also feature support for Battlelog. ESN says it will now focus all of its energy on Battlefield, Battlelog, and projects with DICE (which is also headquartered in Sweden). The studio currently employs 20 workers, and is looking to hire more developers and designers after this acquisition.