Disney makes a $500 million play for Playdom [Rumor]

Disney is rumored to be days away from inking a deal with social game publisher Playdom for somewhere in the ballpark of $500 million. The news, which was originally reported by TechCrunch and has been since confirmed by a handful of anonymous sources, would not be surprising considering that social gaming is the new hotness in interactive entertainment.

Playdom is one of the larger social game publishers, responsible for games such as Social City, Tiki Farm and Wild Ones. These games don't attract the same monthly active users of Zynga's top games, FarmVille, Poker, etc, but the company has still secured millions in funding and has been on a major acquisition spree of late, most recently snapping up My Vineyard creator Metaplace.

Disney and Playdom are both staying mum on the rumor, but if this potential partnership means that Mickey and friends will make their way to Facebook -- maybe in the form of a decent theme park simulation or a socialized Epic Mickey -- we'd tip our Mouse ears to that. Read

Breaking News! Mickey Mouse invades Social City!

I was playing Social City, and there he was -- looming over my town square, his big yellow feet ready to stomp on my carefully placed trees and post office. And then, I realized -- this wasn't Godzilla with big round ears, it was the brand new Mickey Mouse statue that is available as a free gift. Call off the Social City police, it's just Mickey Mouse!

And, you too can get a giant Mickey Mouse statue for your city by clicking this link -- http://play.dm/99Y -- or by receiving one as a gift from friends. This is part of the recent Disney-fication of Social City. M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!