EA merges two biggest mobile game studios

IronMonkey is probably best known for adapting popular EA titles to mobile, like Dead Space and Mass Effect Infiltrator, while Firemint has produced a number of its own popular games, including Flight Control, Real Racing, and SPY Mouse.
Together, the two firms are responsible for more than 85 million downloads from Apple's App Store.
Firemonkeys will work out of EA’s Australian headquarters in Melbourne, where the teams will create new, original titles, while expanding on their existing catalogues.
Last month, EA said it plans to shift its business away from premium mobile game sales to focus on the freemium model, calling free-to-play titles "the norm" moving forward.
Furthermore, big acquisitions of Playfish and PopCap have made it obvious that the company sees its future in mobile and social.
As for the new Firemonkeys, IronMonkey general manager Tony Lay told GameSpot that it wants to “sit shoulder to shoulder with EA studios, like DICE and Criterion.”

http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/read/...studios/018779