Disney has bought out mobile games developer Tapulous, whose flagship Tap Tap Revenge app has been installed by more than one third of iPhone and iPod touch users. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Under the companies’ merger agreement, Tapulous will become a wholly-owned subsidiary reporting to the mobile content division of Disney Interactive Media Group (DIMG).
DIMG President Steve Wadsworth emphasized Tapulous’ successes with applications. “Mobile gaming is seeing unprecedented growth and this is the right time to invest to strengthen our position in the mobile business,” he said in a statement.
Tapulous founders Bart Decrem and Andrew Lacy will take on the leadership roles for the DIMG mobile group with Decrem, who is also CEO of Tapulous, reporting to Wadsworth.
“By joining Disney, we will be able to continue to excel in this evolving industry and more quickly realize our vision to lead the mobile, social entertainment revolution,” said Decrem in a statement.
Disney’s interactive media segment has moved aggressively in the mobile space with several high-performing apps with more than one million downloads each. DIMG’s apps include Alice in Wonderland Lite, Fairies Fly Lite and JellyCar 2, which is Disney’s most successful premium game in the App Store to date. DIMG also manages a Disney-branded mobile phone service in Japan in association with Softbank.