The Walt Disney Co. is in talks to pay over $500 million for social media gaming company Playdom, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER [1]. Disney is already an investor in the firm. Playdom makes most of its venue via the sale of virtual goods, in addition to some advertising sales.
Playdom produces the #1 MySpace game MOBSTERS, in addition to BIG CITY LIFE, SOCIAL CITY, WILD ONES, POKER PALACE and BLOODLINES. Disney is working with them to create a social media game for the ESPN brand.
The purchase would put the Mouse House in competition with the likes of Zynga, who runs the wildly popular FARMVILLE. However, Playdom's 38 million monthly users are a drop in the bucket compared to Zynga's 200 million.
Links:
[1] http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i45f1c709df0501926fcd26a860520a7e