Last week EA Mobile announced that they have acquired the assets for Hands-On Mobile Korea, makers of the popular RPG Heroes Lore, for an undisclosed sum. The team at Hands-On Mobile Korea will stay onboard as EA Mobile, Korea Division.

In the U.S., Hands-On Mobile develops mobile games based on popular licenses such as the Iron Man and Incredible Hulk films, Guitar Hero, and the Lego properties. EA Mobile also has a strong stable of first-party licenses, such as Boom Blox, Spore, and the Sims series.

EA Mobile became one of the world' s largest mobile gaming publishers in 2005 when it purchased Jamdat, the makers of Tetris and Bowling on mobile platforms. The recent decision to purchase Hands-On Mobile Korea closely follows another EA partnership overseas: EA will help distribute Taito mobile games in Europe due to EA' s " excellent carrier relationships," according to Taito' s Executive Officer Shinchiro Kasama.

Casual games seem to be a major factor accounting for EA Mobile' s recent growth and expansion, with Tetris and Bejeweled specifically credited as putting EA Mobile in a " leadership position" worldwide, according to EA Mobile' s Senior VP and General Manager Barry Cottle. EA Mobile has also promised upcoming games for the iPhone and is currently supporting the new N-Gage platform with titles like Tetris and FIFA 08.