A report from Virtual Worlds Management, which tracks the virtual worlds industry, says over $1 billion was invested in 35 virtual worlds over the last 12 months. Most of this figure is Disney’s (NYSE: DIS) purchase of Club Penguin, which the group is calling a $700 million deal, although $350 million is contingent on performance and has yet to be paid out.  The other huge deal on the list is Intel’s (NSDQ: INTC) $110 million purchase of Havok, which is not a virtual world, but rather makes graphics technology that can be used by virtual worlds, although not exclusively. It counts Second Life as a customer.

That leaves $197 million in venture investments and small acquisitions spread around 33 companies, some of whom are only loosely related to virtual worlds. Although the scope of activity isn’t quite as big as the group makes it out to be, the industry has clearly attracted interest from a wide range of major media and venture capital firms. The full list, with size amounts, is in the release.

Update: In the comments, Chris Sherman of Virtual Worlds Management correctly notes that the original release says 35 virtual worlds companies, as opposed to 35 virtual worlds.  However, the underlying point, that the $1 billion number is a bit of a stretch, remains.