Disney set to spend $600m on Playdom?

Disney is planning a big-money move into the social games space, according to TechCrunch.

The investment and technology site reckons that Disney plans to spend big on the firm, with VentureBeat claiming that up to $600m could be used for acquiring Playdom, one of the major Facebook and social games developers.

If true, it comes just a few weeks after Disney swooped for iPhone music game pioneer Tapulous.

Reports say the acquisition of Playdom is in a very ‘late’ stage – although neither party has confirmed the move as yet – and is already referred to internally as ‘Project Platinum’.

Disney already invests in Playdom – its Steamboat Ventures unit pumped $33m into the firm last month.

Playdom has already raised $76m in funding, and TechCrunch says the most recent valuation of the firm put it at $345m.

The move would round out Disney’s gaming credentials. It has slowly and surely built an impressive roster of teams serving consoles, plus bought Club Penguin in 2007, has dabbled in the likes of a Pirates of the Carribean MMO, and offers mobile games. Adding Playdom would help it address the social games gap in its portfolio.