Today, Disney announced that its buying social game company Playdom, spending half-a-billion dollars to bring the company in-house. Now, in addition to owning Social City, Wild Ones and My Vineyard, Disney already owns hundreds of brands that would be right at home in the Facebook gaming universe. Playdom and ESPN (also owned by Disney) were already working a series of sports games together, but here's three more Disney brands that could easily make the jump to the social side.
X-Men
Disney recently purchased the rights to the Marvel Universe, and those tights-wearing heroes seem perfect for a Mafia Wars-style Facebook game, starring Wolverine, Professor X and the gang. You'll choose your character, and you and the rest of your superpowered friends will face off against Magneto by doing missions and earning X-points which can be used to buy items for your own customized version of the X-Mansion. Or, more likely, Disney could simply decide to release a version of Marvel SuperHero Squad Online on Facebook in November.
Pirates of the Caribbean
One thing we're starting to see more of on Facebook -- pirates! Who doesn't love a pirate? Zynga's Pirates: Rule the Caribbean game never reached critical mass, but, lately, we've spotted pirates in Treasure Isle, Playfish's Pirates Ahoy and in LucasArts' Secret of Monkey Island: SE on Facebook. Pirates of the Caribbean Online is already out there, and that makes it a swashbuckle away from landing on Facebook.
Tron
Lightcycle racing game on Facebook? Yes, please! Tron Legacy hits in December 2010, and that's plenty of time to rework the classic Tron racing game into something that's a little more socially inclined. We can see it now -- you can race to earn points that can then be used to buy customizable parts and lights for your ride. So far, racing games have been few and far between on Facebook, maybe it's time to put the pedal to the medal. Alternately, a social game starring the Tron Guy would have major geek cache.
tron guy, courtest of laughing squid
Of course, this is only scratching the surface of Disney brands that would be ready to make the leap to Facebook. (My Games.com cohorts mentioned Gargoyles and Who Framed Roger Rabbit as other possibilities.) It's hard to tell whether the Mickey Mouse franchise, Pixar films like Toy Story or Disney's kid-centric Club Penguin will be part of Disney's new social gaming empire -- you have to be at least 13 to play games on Facebook. You'd also be hard-pressed to find parents who would be comfortable with letting their children games in an unrestricted social environment. But, considering the lack of established brands on Facebook, there's plenty of room for a full-on Mouse House invasion in the not-so-distant future.
Photo by Scott Beale | Laughing Squid.
What Disney brands would you like to see on Facebook?
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