WINDOWS PHONE MARKETPLACE REACHES 25,000 APPS

Microsoft’s Windows Phone Marketplace is now home to more than 25,000 applications, according to the app tracking website WindowsPhoneAppList. That’s a rapid jump from the 18,000 applications that were available in May but it’s still a far cry from the competing app stores offered by Apple and Google. The Android Marketplace is populated with more than 200,000 applications, and Apple said in May that its iTunes App Store boasts more than 500,000 apps. The top-5 paid apps in the Windows Phone Marketplace are all games. Angry Birds is the most popular download, followed by Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode 1, Plants vs. Zombies, Doodle Jump, and Pac Man Championship Edition DX. Microsoft has yet to officially announce having reached the milestone.

POPCAP TO BE ACQUIRED BY EA FOR $1 BILLION

Huge news in the gaming world: PopCap Games, the company behind such hits as Plants vs Zombies and Bejeweled, is in the process of being acquired — and we’re hearing from multiple sources that the price is over $1 billion. Popcap’s revenues are in the range of $100-150 million, we hear — and a price of over $1 billion would put the deal at a possible 10x multiple.

This is not EA's first purchase of a hot gaming startup, they acquired Playfish in 2009 for up to $400 million after earnouts. PopCap was previously rumored to be exploring a possible IPO later this year. The company raised $22.5 million in October 2009.