EA Acquires Rupture

Gamer social networking and stat tracking site Rupture joins the ranks of Electronic Arts.

Rumor that Rupture has been purchased by publisher Electronic Arts for $30 million was leaked by technology blog TechCrunch with help from a source close to the deal. After months of negotiations, Co-founders Shawn Fanning and Jon Baudanza will keep their positions as the heads of Rupture as they join the EA empire.

Rupture, started by Napster founder Shawn Fanning, is a San Francisco-based startup that originally began as a World of Warcraft social network and gradually grew into a multi-game statistics tracking site. Electronic Arts previously partnered with Rupture to offer Madden 08 data for Rupture's information database.

Despite never reaching a public launch, Electronic Arts presumably believes Rupture's backend software can compliment its corporate internet activities.