Cranium games coming from EA?

Electronic Arts' licensing agreement with Hasbro may now include Cranium games, according to a Wachovia Capital Markets analyst.

Hasbro announced today that it had agreed to acquire board game maker Cranium for about USD 77.5 million. The acquisition will add games such as Cranium, Hullabaloo, Cadoo and Zooreka to Hasbro's existing portfolio that already includes Monopoly, Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit.

In August, Hasbro and Electronic Arts entered into a licensing agreement giving EA the right to create electronic versions of some of Hasbro's most popular games.

The titles will be published across a range of platforms, including mobile, handheld, PC and consoles, starting in 2008, while Hasbro will license some as yet unannounced EA franchises for the toy and traditional game markets.

Wachovia analyst Tim Conder said in a marketing note that his firm believes Hasbro will leverage Cranium games into this licensing agreement.

Reuters reports that the deal is expected to close during the first quarter of 2008.