Disney buys iPhone game maker Tapulous

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co said on Thursday it has acquired startup iPhone app developer Tapulous, as the company continues its push into mobile games.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Tapulous struck gold with the music game "Tap Tap Revenue," which was one of the early hits on Apple's iPhone.

Tapulous says it has more than 35 million users, and "Tap Tap Revenge" has been played more than 1 billion times. The company also makes games for the iPad.

Tapulous is profitable, and as of December, its sales had approached $1 million a month.

As part of the acquisition, Tapulous founders Bart Decrem and Andrew Lacy and their development team will join the Disney Interactive Media Group.

Decrem and Lacy will be leading Disney's mobile gaming business from Palo Alto, California, where Tapulous is based, told Reuters.

"Disney sees this as the future and so do we," Decrem said.

Tapulous' investors include Salesforce.com Chief Executive Marc Benioff and venture capital firm Khosla Ventures.

(Reporting by Gabriel Madway, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)