Giant games publisher Electronic Arts who you know from playing Dead Space, The Sims, Madden, and so on is buying the publisher of Angry Birds, Chillingo, for $20 million, the LA Times reports.
What's this mean for Angry Birds gamers? Chillingo publishes but doesn't develop hits such as Angry Birds and Cut The Rope, two juggernauts on the iPhone and iPad. It's not clear whether EA gets the rights to any future releases of those games. We've asked them for more info on this.
UPDATE: An EA rep tells Kotaku that the developers whose games EA purchases retain their rights to their games. We can infer that an Angry Birds 2, if such a thing were to exist, wouldn't have to come from EA/Chillingo. No reason it couldn't, either.
EA has been aggressive making games for the iPhone and iPad, posting mostly sequel-based and franchise releases such as Madden and Need For Speed games. This gives them some games that aren't old brands.
And, no, don't assume Angry Birds will now feature The Sims.
EA buys Angry Birds publisher Chillingo [LA Times]