"This acquisition is consistent with our strategy of leveraging technology to create and deliver high-quality entertainment around the world and our commitment to investing our capital to generate growth and value for our shareholders," said Bob Iger, Disney president and CEO. "Club Penguin embodies principles that are of the utmost importance to Disney – providing high-quality family entertainment and fostering parental trust. The founders have woven together new technologies and creativity to build an incredibly compelling, immersive entertainment experience for kids and families. Just as with our own Disney.com, kids love Club Penguin and parents trust it; and we are proud to welcome the creative team of Club Penguin into Disney. Combining the creativity and knowledge of the Club Penguin team with our existing Disney Online assets will help us further achieve our objective of establishing clear leadership in the kids and families online virtual worlds space around the globe."
"We have been actively searching for an organization that not only shares our values and concerns for children, but also has the ability and desire to help us bring Club Penguin to more children throughout the world. We've found that partner in Disney," said Lane Merrifield, one of Club Penguin's three founders. "As a former employee of Disneyland, I've always had a great respect for what Walt created. When he first envisioned Disneyland, he wanted to create a safe place that he and his daughters could enjoy. In the process of creating Club Penguin, we shared that passion and often pulled from Walt's vision in the hope of creating a unique place online that we would be comfortable letting our own children visit."
by David Radd
source:gamedaily.com
