In a new lawsuit, Electronic Arts (NSDQ: ERTS) says free speech rights permit it to use brand name helicopters in the hit game Battlefield 3. The case is part of a trend in which video game makers are pushing the bounds of trademark law to make their games more realistic.

Some research out from Xyologic today on app store download trends in 2011 indicates that while games have remained a popular category across both Apple’s App Store for free apps and the Android Market, they appear far more popular on with iPhone users than they are with Android users when…

It has become something of a meme that young kids take to smartphones and tablets like fish to water. Today sees a development that could foster that idea along with more content for them to consume. Mindshapes, an educational games publisher started in 2010 by five execs with a track…

During the three-day outage last week that affected data services for millions of BlackBerry users, RIM (NSDQ: RIMM) executives were focused first on getting services up and running before talking about compensation. Today the company finally came out with its first (and so far, only public) apology in kind: a…

Many fans say college sports are about the game and not the money. One New Jersey judge appears to agree, ruling that Electronic Arts (NSDQ: ERTS) does not have to pay ex-Rutgers quarterback Ryan Hart and others for using their images in its popular NCAA Football video game.

Electronic Arts (NSDQ: ERTS) topped Wall Street expectations for its last quarter, sending the company’s shares up as much as two percent after-hours before falling back. The company also raised its guidance for the second quarter, saying that its NCAA Football title is “off to a great start.”

You can almost see the lawyers for Rovio debating whether or not they’d like to use the exploding black bird or the dive-bombing white bird against Lodsys, which has extended its patent claims to a number of gaming companies including the maker of Angry Birds, the most popular mobile game…

Video game giant Electronic Arts (NSDQ: ERTS) is spending $750 million to acquire PopCap Games, the maker of Bejeweled and Plants vs. Zombies, in a move to bolster its position amid increasingly fierce competition from Zynga and other online game companies. The deal includes a performance payout for PopCap, which…

Electronic Arts (NSDQ: ERTS) has made another mobile-related acquisition, picking up Firemint, a mobile games developer known for hit iPhone titles like Flight Control and Real Racing. The deal follows the video game developer’s purchase of Angry Birds publisher Chillingo in late October, and it will boost its already fast-growing…

Another high-profile hire for Zynga representative of how fast the social games company has grown: John Schappert, the COO of video game giant Electronic Arts (NSDQ: ERTS) is leaving to fill the same position at Zynga. Electronic Arts announced Schappert’s departure in an SEC filing; the WSJ says Schappert is…

Long-time WildTangent executive Dave Madden is leaving to take the top job at Electronic Arts’ global media sales group. In a short interview with us this morning, Madden said he would be leading ad sales at Electronic Arts’ console, mobile and social games businesses and hoped to make it easier…

Is Jay Walker jealous of Paul Allen? Allen got a lot of press when he sued 11 big internet companies last year, essentially saying he patented ideas like “related links.” Walker has been dabbling in the world of patent-trolling for over a year now, but with no such fanfare; he…

John Riccitiello, CEO of Electronic Arts took the stage at the Ad Age Digital conference to make a pitch to advertisers: in terms of reach, games are bigger than all forms of entertainment, even and especially TV. “People spend a lot more time with video games than anything else,” Riccitiello…

Digital Chocolate, the mobile and social gaming firm started and led by Electronic Arts (NSDQ: ERTS) founder Trip Hawkins, has raised $12 million in a fourth round of funding led by Intel (NSDQ: INTC) Capital, with past investors Sutter Hill Ventures and Bridgescale Partners also participating. The company says that…

The new chiefs at struggling Disney (NYSE: DIS) Interactive Media Group pledged to put the division in the black by 2013 at an investors conference for the conglomerate Thursday in Anaheim, Calif. Making their first public appearance since joining Disney last year, co-president John Pleasants and James Pitaro offered a…

What kind of control should celebrities have over creative works that involve their images? In a high-stakes case just argued in a California appeals court, media companies are asking for courts to place clearer limits on celebrities’ intellectual property rights in their own images, known as “rights of publicity.” The…

Electronic Arts (NSDQ: ERTS), which has invested heavily in its digital business through a series of recent acquisitions, including the purchase of mobile publisher Chilingo and social games firm Playfish, says its digital revenues jumped 39 percent to $195 million during its third fiscal quarter. The company says that overall…

		EPS*	Rev. vs Q0309	Net Inc. vs Q0309
Electronic Arts	Release		15%	292%

* vs. Analysts' Estimates: Beat Met Missed

Electronic Arts (NSDQ: ERTS), which has been investing heavily in its digital business, posted another jump in digital sales for the quarter but its previously fast-growing mobile business reported a small drop-off in sales. Overall, digital revenue increased 25 percent to $161 million. Total mobile revenue was $49 million, compared…

		EPS*	Rev. vs Q0209	Net Inc. vs Q0209
Electronic Arts	Release		23%	49%

* vs. Analysts' Estimates: Beat Met Missed

Electronic Arts (NSDQ: ERTS) has confirmed it has purchased Chillingo, a U.K. publisher of Angry Birds and other iPhone and iPad games, reports the LA Times.