EA Buys Angry Birds Publisher Chillingo for $20 Million

According to Reuters, Electronic Arts has purchased Chillingo – the publisher of the iPhone hit Angry Birds – for $20 million.

With more than 10 million downloads, Angry Birds is one of the most popular iPhone games. According to TechCrunch, Angry Birds’s Peter Vesterbacka claims, “We are remaining an independent company and are continuing full speed ahead. This sale has no impact on us, as Chillingo is just a publisher of the iPhone and iPad games, and that’s it.”

The acquisition does not entitle EA to the rights of Finnish developer Rovio’s hugely-successful title. In fact, the developer tweeted, “We have not sold out. We have not sold to EA. We are Rovio. We own Angry Birds.”

Electronic Arts appears to have a very strong interest in the mobile gaming market. The publisher recently purchased another social gaming company called Playfish for $300 million.