Report: Disney Acquires iPhone Game Company Tapulous

Disney is showing its continuing interest in the social and mobile space with the reported acquisition of iPhone gaming startup Tapulous, best known for popular chart-topping music series Tap Tap Revenge. It's not the first strides the Mouse has made into the new gaming media arena, having recently participated in Facebook gaming firm Playdom's latest venture funding round, and being involved in online games like Club Penguin and World Of Cars, plus iPhone games like JellyCar 2 and Toy Story 3. According to a report from TechCrunch revealing the acquisition, Tapulous founder Bart Decrem and COO Andrew Lacy will join Disney as VPs. After the success of Tap Tap Revenge and its numerous versions, which saw millions of App Store downloads, the company most recently launched Tap Tap Radiation for iPad. It's monetized its Tap Tap games by offering a free download but charging players for new tunes to play to -- its deal with Warner Music Group helps it in that respect. There's some obvious synergy between Disney's audiences and Tapulous' -- Tap Tap Revenge versions highlight popular tween stars like Justin Bieber, and mass-appeal musicians like Nickelback and Lady Gaga. With the acquisition Disney gains not only a foothold in the iPhone space, but a new way of reaching its broadest constituency, who are also fans of Disney mainstays like Hannah Montana.