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Disney buys Playdom in $763 mln deal

The Walt Disney Co. is adding a new cast of characters to its vast entertainment stable, buying online social game maker Playdom in a deal worth up to 763 million dollars.

Disney said it will pay 563.2 million dollars for Playdom, developer of popular online games such as “Social City,” “Sorority Life,” “Market Street” and “Bola,” and up to 200 million dollars more in performance-linked bonuses.

Playdom claims some 42 million active players a month on social networks such as Facebook and MySpace.

Zynga is currently the leader in the fast-growing social gaming space with over 230 million monthly active users of its games, which include “FarmVille,” “Mafia Wars” and “Treasure Isle.”

Disney’s purchase of Playdom comes slightly more than three weeks after it bought Tapulous, the maker of games for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad including the wildly popular “Tap Tap Revenge.”

“We see strong growth potential in bringing together Playdom’s talented team and capabilities with our great creative properties,” Disney president and chief executive Robert Iger said in a statement.

“This acquisition furthers our strategy of allocating capital to high-growth businesses that can benefit from our many characters, stories and brands,” Iger added.

Playdom chief executive John Pleasants described Disney as “the ideal partner to further our mission to bring great entertainment to people around the world.”

Disney said Playdom will maintain its headquarters in Mountain View, California.

Pleasants will become an executive vice president of the Disney Interactive Media Group and general manager of Playdom, Disney said.