Electronic Arts has confirmed October rumours by announcing that it has acquired leading social gaming company Playfish.

The deal is valued at approximately $275 million in cash and $25 million in equity retention arrangements. "In addition, the sellers are entitled to additional variable cash consideration, up to a maximum of $100 million, contingent upon the achievement of certain performance milestones through December 31, 2011."

EA claims that Playfish’s ten games - including Facebook titles Pet Society, Restaurant City and Country Story - currently have over 60 million monthly active players.

Playfish will operate within EA’s web and wireless focused EA Interactive division.

"Social gaming, with its emphasis on friends and community, is seeing tremendous growth and this is the right time to invest to strengthen our participation in this space," said Barry Cottle, general manager of EA Interactive. "EAi has been successfully leading the charge for EA, and with the addition of proven expertise from Playfish, their broad consumer base and strong game brands, we're moving ahead aggressively in our plans to lead in the category of cross-platform social entertainment."

Playfish co-founder and CEO Kristian Segerstrale said: "The industry is undergoing dramatic transformation and joining EA is the ideal opportunity for us to push forward our goals to lead in the social entertainment evolution on a faster and much larger scale."