Disney Acquires Social Gaming Company Playdom for up to $763.2 Million
It’s official, I am now the newest “cast member” of the Walt Disney Company. I have been fortunate over the last several years to be doing exactly what I love— building games. When I joined Playdom earlier this year I was excited about the future of social games. Working with a start up like Playdom offered me the opportunity to help build a top entertainment company. Today we have not only validated our success but are proud members of the largest entertainment company in the world. This is only the beginning.
Official Press Release
THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY TO ACQUIRE LEADING SOCIAL GAME DEVELOPER PLAYDOM
Advancing on its goal of bringing consumers its well-known stories, characters and brands in ever more engaging ways, The Walt Disney Company has agreed to acquire Playdom Inc., one of the leading companies in the fast-growing business of online social gaming.
Playdom shareholders will receive total consideration of $563.2 million, subject to certain conditions, and a performance-linked earn-out of up to $200 million.
In just two and a half years of operation, Playdom has established itself as a pacesetter in building popular games for social networks enjoyed by consumers around the globe. Through well-known titles like Social City, Sorority Life, Market Street and Bola, Playdom engages an estimated 42 million active players each month.
By acquiring Playdom, Disney will strengthen its already-robust digital gaming portfolio, acquire a first-rate management team and provide consumers new ways to interact with the company on popular social networks like Facebook and MySpace.
Press Articles & Links
New York Times: Disney Purchases Playdom, a Social Game Start-Up
AllFacebook.com: Disney Buys Playdom For Up To $763.2 Million
Mashable: Disney Acquires Social Gaming Company Playdom for up to $763.2 Million
Inside Social Games: Disney Announces Playdom Acquisition for $563.2M, Plus Up to $200M Earn-Out
TechCrunch: Playdom Acquired By Disney For Up To $763.2 Million
Read MoreJoining Playdom - Where players rule
I am excited to announce today that I have officially joined the social gaming team at Playdom. This company has an unbelievably bright future and I make this move with deep conviction and enthusiasm.
The last few months have been filled with an unusual amount of opportunities resulting from the launch of Storybook Anytime’s social game Reef Life. Since very early in the projects life I have been both humbled and inspired by the support of my friends and colleagues. It is that inspiration and support that has ultimately led to this opportunity — for that I am eternally grateful.
Playdom boasts the #1 game on MySpace—Mobsters—and three of the top four applications. Fueled by explosive growth on Facebook and an expanding pipeline of new games and features, Playdom may be the fastest growing social gaming company on the planet! It is an honor to be part of Playdom and exciting to know that I will be helping to move social gaming forward on a much larger scale than ever before.
Read MoreAdobe Developer Profile: Mike Johnston
I am very honored to be the featured developer profile in this month’s edition of Adobe Edge— the online magazine for Adobe developers. The article, “Behind the scenes of Sam’s Interactive Reader” chronicles the creation of Storybook Anytime and the production of our flagship Adobe AIR product, Sam’s Interactive Reader. Be sure to take a few minutes and check it out.
The AIR Marketplace and AIR product team have been a fantastic champion of Storybook Anytime. I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank them for their continued support.
Read MoreJoin me on XBOX Live!
The XBOX 360 gaming experience is quite simply the best. Over the course of a year, as a side benefit to my [former] job at Millions of Us, I have had the opportunity to view many game titles on both the XBOX 360 and PS3 platforms. I also had the unfortunate pleasure of writing code for the Playstation 3 console itself. I can honestly say that the user experience and graphics are simply better on the Microsoft platform.
That said, I am (and have been for the last 7 months) the proud owner of an XBOX 360. When I have extra time there is nothing I like better than a little console gaming. The Live experience from XBOX is also second to none. You can generally find me playing RockBand 2, Guitar Hero World Tour or Call of Duty. I am also a big fan of the Tom Clancy Rainbow Six series. My Gamer Tag is BigMikeJ Cali - let’s play!
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