Gaming Social Network Rupture to Sell to EA for $30M?

Rupture, alternately described as a social gaming site or a social network for gamers, is in advanced talks with EA to sell the company for $30 million. “Is it likely to go through?,” a source told Venture Beat. “Yes.” This obviously doesn't fit quite into the virtual worlds category, but it shows the increasing demand for a more social experience built on top of or around gameplay-based virtual worlds like World of Warcraft, which Rupture serves. That  contributes to a blurring of the niches' lines that we looked at last August. The question of the definition, though, is often largely academic. From a business point, even though EA is closing down The Sims Online/EA-Land, it looks like it sees the massive potential of the combination of MMOGs and social networks--a combination that begins to  sound a lot more like traditional "virtual worlds."