TechCrunch and VentureBeat both have sources claiming Disney is ready to purchase social gaming developer Playdom for over $600 million. There are currently obscene amounts of money being invested in the social gaming arena; just last year EA purchased Playfish, another big player in the space, for $300 million.
Disney Interactive Media, which continues to have annual losses, has been working on making or buying a mega-money maker. Split/Second obviously isn't panning out, but Club Penguin seems to be doing fine. There's also the question of how the company will eventually incorporate the Marvel properties, unless it opts to continue licensing those out. The Playdom purchase, if true, would give the company access to a demographic that its current mouse house of studios doesn't directly service.
Reader Comments (7)
Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 11:30PM tenacioustoaster said
In before 'rar'.
*shudders*
But seriously, this isn't gaming any more than cheerleading is a sport. Which incidentally it isn't now.
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7019377091
It's still hot though.
*shudders*
But seriously, this isn't gaming any more than cheerleading is a sport. Which incidentally it isn't now.
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7019377091
It's still hot though.
Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 11:48PM Shadowbender said
@tenacioustoaster
It's all a joke, this whole "social gaming" thing. Like you said, it's not real gaming. It's almost as a big a joke as someone calling themselves hardcore when all they play is MW2.
Reply
It's all a joke, this whole "social gaming" thing. Like you said, it's not real gaming. It's almost as a big a joke as someone calling themselves hardcore when all they play is MW2.
Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 11:47PM BrianH said
So, Sorority life?
I'm guessing the most popular games are the wet t-shirt contest and the blow job tutorial?
I'm guessing the most popular games are the wet t-shirt contest and the blow job tutorial?
Posted: Jul 23rd 2010 11:49PM tenacioustoaster said
@BrianH Those are definitely my favorites.
Reply
Posted: Jul 24th 2010 3:27AM SSUK said
$600 million? For this? Disney could create a studio like this by trapping unemployed developers using a PS3 dev kit tied to some string and lure developers over a carpet-covered hole with a Commodore 64 at the bottom of it. Occasionally throwing down Mountain Dew and cheesy nibbles.
Posted: Aug 22nd 2010 2:52PM Miranda Lawson said
@SSUK That was really funny to me for some reason.
Reply
Posted: Jul 24th 2010 3:43AM Crayola Q Pants ESQ said
Be interesting to see if this social gaming trend actually stays strong or meets the expectations everyone seems to have on it. Unless there's some innovation or greater quality focused into it I just can't see all this turning into anything more than another rendition of the dot com bubble burst.
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