Playdom’s Big Win: Disney Acquisition Could Be Worth $763.2 Million

If you use Facebook – and at this point, nearly everyone does,  you’ve surely seen friends requesting farm equipment  for Farmville, clothes in Sorority Life, cooking supplies in Cafe World, or any number of items for any number of social games that dominate the platform.

Playdom, the company behind Sorority Life, Social City and Treetopia among many others, was officially acquired today by Disney for $563.2 million, with the potential for another $200 million based on performance. {Mashable} Though that might sound like a lot of real money for virtual goods, the company raised $33 million just a month ago at a valuation of $345 million. {TechCrunch}

“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.” – Robert A. Iger, President and CEO, The Walt Disney Company.

While MySpace is the network that no one remembers now, it was actually key to the company’s success. After failing on Facebook on their first go-round, Playdom built a user base on MySpace, then came back to Facebook to pick up 37 million active users – putting it squarely in line with top social game developers like Zynga. {GamesBeat}

Well played!