Well there are ways in which a bigger collection of small shops can be stronger than the sum of its parts. * It's a hit driven business, and this distributes r

Well there are ways in which a bigger collection of small shops can be stronger than the sum of its parts. * It's a hit driven business, and this distributes risk. * Especially in social gaming, it seems important to have a userbase to market to. Playdom can do this across its properties in a very arbitrary and low friction way. * Playdom can do promotions with big brands across multiple properties at once. Larger brands might not give the time of day to individual game studios. Obviously there are disadvantages, too. The drive to make a great game just isn't the same when you're part of a larger company. This might not be an issue if you're developing the kind of games you would want to play. But if you're designing a game for children or one that cynically targets user psychology, you may really lose your drive.