Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) is making a big move into social games, with the purchase of fast-growing social game developer Playdom for up to $763.2 million. The deal includes a “total consideration” of $563.2 million, in addition to a performance-linked earn-out of up to $200 million. In a release, which…

Metaplace, a social games startup which switched strategies earlier this year after its first business failed, has been purchased by Playdom. Initially intended to be a place where people could build their own virtual worlds, Metaplace shut down that service six months ago saying it wasn’t gaining enough traction and…

Playdom, which raised $33 million in a funding round earlier this week, is buying yet another social games startup. It has purchased five-year-old Hive7, which is behind several popular Facebook titles, including Knighthood, which has 147,620 users. In announcing its funding round Wednesday, Playdom didn’t specify what it would use…

Playdom continues to spend the $43 million it raised in its first round of funding in November: The social game maker is buying Acclaim Games, which offers a number of free massively multiplayer role-playing games on its website and has also developed the RockFree Facebook game; a second Acclaim Facebook…

Social gaming startup Playdom is continuing with its shopping spree, making its fifth investment since raising $43 million in a first round of funding in November. The company is buying Three Melons, an Argentinean online gaming startup which counts popular Facebook soccer app Bola among its titles. Playdom says it…

Playdom, which said it would use some of its recent $43 million funding round for acquisitions, is following through on that pledge. The social gaming company is buying up Offbeat Creations, the developer of several Facebook titles, including dice game Super Farkle, which has more than one million users. Super…

Playdom has a former EA star as its CEO, a fresh round of $43 million in funding, and now a well-known financial analyst as its CFO. Christa Quarles, formerly managing director of internet services at Thomas Weisel Partners (she’s still actually listed in the job on the website), has joined…

Reports have been flying around about Electronic Arts (NSDQ: ERTS) potentially buying hot social-gaming company Playfish—with sources telling Inside Social Games that the deal may have closed “a few weeks ago”, and GamesIndustry.biz reporting that it was worth $250 million. EA’s response to us: “We don’t comment on rumors about…

The legal drama between social gaming rivals Zynga and Playdom moved from claims of misleading ads to accusations of trade secret theft and a temporary restraining order. Zynga sued Playdom in June over supposedly misleading ads. The new suit, reported first by first by TechCrunch, accuses Playdom of stealing trade…

The social gaming boom has resulted in a legal spat between two of its biggest players: Zynga is suing rival Playdom over the way Playdom is advertising one of its games. Zynga claims that Playdom is misleading players with ads that compare its Mobsters to Zynga’s Mafia Wars game; it…

Social gaming startup Playdom has scored its most high-profile new hire yet: EA COO John Pleasants, who’s taking the reins as CEO. Pleasants told us about EA’s interest in social gaming—not to mention his belief in the viability of the industry’s low-cost, high-ROI business model—so it’s not surprising that he’s…

Money isn’t the only thing flowing into the social gaming business—these app-based startups continue to attract new talent. The latest social gaming firm making new hires is Playdom, which has added 23 new employees over the past two months, including EA vets Dave Rohrl and Sean Clark. The two execs…