Shawn Fanning, best known as the founder of pioneering file-sharing service Napster, has finally earned some money.

Electronic Arts said tonight it had acquired his latest company, ThreeSF, and its video-game service Rupture. A person familiar with the deal said EA had paid roughly $30 million.

Shawn Fanning, best known as the founder of pioneering file-sharing service Napster, has finally earned some money.

Electronic Arts said tonight it had acquired his latest company, ThreeSF, and its video-game service Rupture. A person familiar with the deal said EA had paid roughly $30 million.

Shawn Fanning, best known as the founder of pioneering file-sharing service Napster, has finally earned some money.

Electronic Arts said tonight it had acquired his latest company, ThreeSF, and its video-game service Rupture. A person familiar with the deal said EA had paid roughly $30 million.

Shawn Fanning, best known as the founder of pioneering file-sharing service Napster, has finally earned some money.

Electronic Arts said tonight it had acquired his latest company, ThreeSF, and its video-game service Rupture. A person familiar with the deal said EA had paid roughly $30 million.

Shawn Fanning, best known as the founder of pioneering file-sharing service Napster, has finally earned some money.

Electronic Arts said tonight it had acquired his latest company, ThreeSF, and its video-game service Rupture. A person familiar with the deal said EA had paid roughly $30 million.

When the widely read blog TechCrunch wrote a month ago that gaming giant EA had bought Rupture for a reported $30 million, it wasn't true. But it is now.

Rupture could give EA a crucial tool for becoming a force...

... in the potentially lucrative market for multi-player online games, which generates $1 billion in annual subscription fees alone in the U.S., according to research firm NPD Group.