EA Partners With Amp'd For Mobile Games

Electronic Arts, which just completed its acquisition of Jamdat Mobile to become one of the largest U.S. publishers of mobile games, has taken another step into the mobile game sector by partnering with new U.S. cellphone operator Amp'd Mobile. The deal will see EA supplying more than 15 games to Amp'd new line of handsets in 2006. Amp'd began operations on December 15th, 2005, targeting the 18-to-24 demographic with cheaper song downloads through its mobile phone service plans. The company offers 99-cent downloads per song, which is more inexpensive than the charges from its nearest rival Sprint. The company is currently renting bandwidth on Verizon's wireless network rather than establish its own communications network, and recently received an investment from MTV Networks, which will offer video clips and songs through Amp'd service. The first EA games to be available on Amp'd will be FIFA 06, Madden NFL 06, NBA Live 06, Need for Speed Underground 2, The Sims 2, and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06. EA will also offer casual games from its Pogo service. The games will be delivered through an EA-specific game channel, which will also feature wallpaper and ringtones. "When looking at our mobile gaming strategy, EA was certainly at the very top of our list of must-have partners," said Amp'd senior VP Seth Cummings. "Amp'd Mobile's broadband wireless network, deployment of BREW 3.1 and next-generation handsets provide EA with the most advanced platform in the U.S. to launch their outstanding titles into the mobile marketplace."