Electronic Arts has hooked casual social game developer Playfish for $274 million in cash as well as $100 million in contingency payments and $25 million in equity-based retention agreements with employees. Word in this report from The Associated Press is: "Playfish makes money by selling virtual items for its free games, which currently have 60 million monthly players. Its most popular game, "Pet Society," has 21 million monthly players. It lets people design and care for a virtual pet. Like with a flesh-and-blood version, owners have the option of buying an endless amount of stuff for their creatures."