14 DAY TRIAL // When Electronic Arts closed a deal with Hasbro regarding the use of its Monopoly brand (EA is clearly interested in such titles) and of other intellectual property, there were many people thinking that Scrabble would be one of the first games to be re-done in an electronic form by the videogame publisher.
Now Electronic Arts is saying that the official version of Scrabble, as licensed from Hasbro, is available for play on its online portal, Pogo.com. The game is also scheduled to make its debut as a widget on the very popular Facebook social network, where the company hopes that the EA Scrabble will beat, by the number of its players, the unofficial Scrabulous.
So far, Electronic Arts has been using its store of Hasbro licensed classical games mainly for the iPod. The Apple platform has received Scrabble, Yahtzee and the Monopoly version especially designed; Yahtzee and Monopoly are expected to also reach Facebook and Pogo.com this year. Facebook is a great platform for classical board games due to the demographic profile of its users and to the inherently social nature of the games themselves.
Chip Lange, who is the EA Hasbro general manager, stated that "Scrabble is one of the best social game brands in existence and we've worked diligently with the Hasbro team to ensure that regardless of the platform you're playing, you'll be able to enjoy a world class version of Scrabble with friends or family. We're delighted to be bringing communities everywhere access to one of their favorite games".
It's very likely that the speedy development and release of Scrabble as a Facebook app was determined by Hasbro's insistence. It hopes that the official version will push Scrabulous out of favor with gamers, after legal action failed to remove the un-licensed game from Facebook. Revenue from adds is the most important source of income for games on social networks and Electronic Arts wishes to have a large slice of that market before its value explodes.