Microsoft In Acquisition Talks With Crowdstar

By Alicia Ashby On February 11, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Technology giant Microsoft is currently in acquisition talks with Crowdstar, according to sources close to Bloomberg. Crowdstar is currently the fourth-largest developer on Facebook and serves about 50 million monthly active users.

Crowdstar's valuation in a potential deal with Microsoft could be as high as $200 million according to sources, though both companies declined to comment on the Bloomberg story. Sources say that Crowdstar is not necessarily close to being acquired and may instead opt to remain independent with private investment.

Crowdstar is noteworthy for developing Happy Aquarium, the game that kick-started the now-thriving "virtual aquarium" social genre on Facebook. Facebook developer Playfish was acquired by Electronic Arts last year for $300 million, so a $200 million valuation for Crowdstar isn't unrealistic.

Microsoft is clearly interested in adding social gaming to its MSN Games platform, with Zynga's FarmVille launching there last week. It is also possible Microsoft could be interested in bringing social games to its Xbox 360 console, which has many social features.