Google pays $182 million for SuperPoke Pets! creator Slide

Slide, the social gaming company behind SuperPoke Pets! (and the whole throwing sheep trend in the early days of Facebook) has purportedly been snapped up by Google for $182 million. The official announcement is expected to be made on Friday.

For anyone who has been questioning whether Google's recent investment in Zynga means the search giant is making a play for the social gaming space, it's safe to say the answer is a definite 'yes.' Rumors say that Google is planning to launch a Facebook competitor called 'Google Me' and, well, looks like they'll have plenty of social games in tow.

Slide's roster of games includes SuperPoke Pets!, SPP Ranch, Top Fish, SuperPocus Academy of Magic and apps include Fun Space, Top Friends and, the Facebook classic, SuperPoke! Wonder what the Google overlords have in store for these games, as in, how many of these will stick around and which ones -- if any -- will get shut down? In the Wild West of social gaming -- all these acquistions and mergers don't necessarily bode well for less popular games (remember Ponzi Inc?) and the people who have sunk time (and money) into them.

[via Tech Crunch]