NEW YORK?The Walt Disney Co. announced Tuesday it was buying online social game developer Playdom in a deal worth up to $763 million.

Disney said Playdom shareholders will receive up to $563.2 million and performance-linked bonuses of up to $200 million.

Playdom is the developer of popular online games such as "Social City," "Sorority Life," "Market Street" and "Bola" and claims some 42 million active players a month on social networks such as Facebook and MySpace.

"We see strong growth potential in bringing together Playdom's talented team and capabilities with our great creative properties," Disney president and chief executive Robert Iger said in a statement.

"This acquisition furthers our strategy of allocating capital to high-growth businesses that can benefit from our many characters, stories and brands," Iger added.

Playdom chief executive John Pleasants described Disney as "the ideal partner to further our mission to bring great entertainment to people around the world."

Disney said Playdom will maintain its headquarters in Mountain View, California.

Pleasants will become an executive vice president of the Disney Interactive Media Group and general manager of Playdom, Disney said.

Playdom's chief rival in the fast-growing social games space is Zynga.

Zynga claims more than 230 million monthly active users of its games, which include "FarmVille," "Mafia Wars" and "Treasure Isle" among others.