Mattel acquires The Learning Company

Mattel acquires The Learning Company is the business side of the news today, and this one has the usual late-90s mix of studios, publishing deals, lawsuits, money, and big promises.

The important bit: Mattel, the world’s largest toy maker announced today it had agreed to buy education software titan Learning Co. for $33 per share in stock, or about $3.8 billion. Mattel, the maker of Barbie dolls, Fisher-Price toys and Hot Wheels, will add Reader Rabbit and National Geographic software titles to its stable with its purchase of Cambridge, Mass.-based Learning Co.

It is not as fun as a new demo, but these moves decide what games actually get made, sold, patched, or buried. Ignore the suits and you miss half the story.