On July 1, Disney announced it was acquiring Tapulous. one of the first Apple mobile development firms. Tapulous is best known for its Tap Tap Revenge series of games; these are rhythm games similar to Rock Band or Guitar Hero but played on the iPhone. However, Tapulous is also responsible for Twinkle, a hybrid Twitter/location-based chat client and other iOS apps. Terms for the deal were not disclosed, but Tapulous founder Bart Decrem and Tapulous Chief Operating Officer Andrew Lacy will be put in high positions in Disney Interactive Studios‘ mobile division. Tapulous will remain at its headquarters in Palo Alto, CA.
Why would Disney purchase Tapulous? The easy answer is that it wants to put its recording artists into future Tap Tap games. Tap Tap Selena Gomez, anyone? While this may be part of the deal, I don’t think it’s just for Tap Tap. Tapulous was developing iPhone applications before Apple even allowed apps to be developed. The original Tap Tap game, Tap Tap Revolution was programmed for iPhones that were “jailbroken”, or hacked to allow unapproved code. Therefore, I think Disney bought Tapulous to bring true iPhone expertise into Disney Interactive Studios’ mobile division. While Disney has had some success in the iPhone market with its current apps, Tapulous can make Disney an iOS development powerhouse.
I think Disney is making a smart acquisition; while Tapulous has ridden the success of its Tap Tap games, they have been programming the iPhone as long as the iPhone has been available. The expertise in this firm should prove useful for Disney in its future iOS apps. Maybe Tapulous will be put to work on a special app for the Disney Parks (wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more…). As long as Disney lets Tapulous work, I think we will see new and exciting iOS apps for our iPhones and iPads from Disney in the future.
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