Disney Buys Playdom For $763.2M

By Chris Sherman On July 27, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Last week's rumors have borne fruit: today the Walt Disney Company purchased social game developer Playdom for $563.2 million, with an additional $200 million payout to shareholders possible as a performance-linked earnout. Playdom was the top social game developer on MySpace until last year, when it moved back to Facebook and began experiencing success as one of the industry's three largest developers. Major games include Mobsters, Social City, and Sorority Life.

Playdom serves about 42 million monthly active users across all platforms, with most users coming from Facebook. Last year Electronic Arts bought social developer Playfish for $300 million with another $100 million possible based on performance. Playfish has since grown into the second-largest social developer overall, serving over 52 million monthly active users across all platforms.

"We see strong growth potential in bringing together Playdom's talented team and capabilities with our great creative properties, people and world-renowned brands like Disney, ABC, ESPN and Marvel," said Robert A. Iger, President and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, in a press statement. "This acquisition furthers our strategy of allocating capital to high-growth businesses that can benefit from our many characters, stories and brands."

Disney's acquisition of Playdom comes hot on the heels of the company's acquisition of iPhone developer Tapulous. Playdom CEO John Pleasants will become a Vice President in the Walt Disney Interactive Media Group and General Manager of Playdom. In all Playdom controls a massive 15 internal studios thanks to a recent acquisition spree, all of which will now report to Disney Interactive Media Group President Steve Wadsworth.

The high price tag for Playdom is the outcome of a bidding war to gain control of the company, according to Venture Beat. Playdom had only 60 employees roughly one year ago, but its acquisition spree of the past year has transformed it into a powerhouse that employs over 600 people. Prior to the acquisition, Playdom was in a brand partnership with the sports network ESPN, which is owned by Disney.