zynga

Zynga adds four mobile game companies to roster

Zynga, the San Francisco-based maker of FarmVille and other social games, has upped its gaming lineup, saying today that it bought four mobile gaming companies during the past five months, according to Reuters.

Among the companies Zynga acquired is German-based Gamedoctors, which created the game ZombieSmash; San Francisco-based Page44 Studios, which developed the "World of Goo;" HipLogic that is also based in San Francisco; and New York-based Astro Ape Studios. Zynga declined to say how much it paid for the companies.

As the top maker of Facebook games, Zynga acknowledges that it has been looking to increase its presence across multiple devices, … Read more

Zynga CEO Mark Pincus on IPO: We got what we wanted

Zynga CEO Mark Pincus says his company achieved its goals after going public last year, even though some investors didn't get what they had hoped for out of the stock.

"Our goals were we want to raise a billion dollars," Pincus told The Wall Street Journal in an interview published today. "Through going public, we wanted to add some more great long-term investors to the company. All of that was successful."

But what about the individual investor? Zynga went public late last year at $10 a share. In its first day of trading, its stock was down 50 cents to $9.50 a share. … Read more

Zynga CTO: Four predictions for 2012

Editor's note: This is a guest post from Cadir Lee, the CTO of Zynga. I invited Lee to offer up some predictions for 2012 with the understanding that only one would be about Zynga. --Paul Sloan, executive editor

Open Web stack will take hold for browser-based games W3C and Zynga are lining up to enable rich gaming experiences in the browser across multiple devices. There's still a ways to go, but Zynga is not just waiting for this to happen. We launched our first fully HTML5 game in the App Store this year with Mafia Wars Shakedown. Following … Read more

2011: A banner year for startup investing

Here's an upbeat tidbit to end the year: 2011 is on track to the biggest year in venture capital deals in a decade.

Big years make for daring bets, and for this year I've chose a dozen influential investors to single out for their role in fueling startups of all sorts.

If the final quarter shapes up as it looks like it will, venture capital deals will total $30 billion for the year, a 25-percent jump from 2010, according to Anand Sanwal, whose firm, CB Insights, tracks investment activity among VCs and some big angel investors.

"I … Read more

OopsVille. Was Zynga's IPO a mistake?

If Zynga thought it could get investors to flock to its stock the way Facebook users have rushed to FarmVille, CityVille, CastleVille, and others, it's getting a very unwelcome reality check.

On Friday, with the whole world watching and expectations high, the social games giant kicked off its IPO. But within hours of the shares going on sale at $10 apiece, it became clear that Zynga was in for a rough day. Though it finished the day with a market capitalization of over $2.5 billion, the shares had dropped to $9.50.

Today, things haven't gone any … Read more

Were the analysts right? Zynga shares down in first trading day

Zynga thought its success thus far could justify a $10-per-share stock price. But Wall Street disagrees.

The social-gaming company's stock closed the day today down 50 cents to $9.50, making it the first major Web IPO this year to close lower on its initial trading day.

The writing appeared to be on the wall earlier today when Zynga's shares were unable to sustain an early-morning surge that saw the stock climb to $11.50. Throughout much of the afternoon, Zynga's shares stayed in the red, hitting a low point of $9 before climbing back up to … Read more

Zynga IPO gets off to inauspicious start

Social-gaming company Zynga is officially trading on the Nasdaq, and so far, things aren't looking too good.

The company started selling its shares for $10 around 8 a.m. PT this morning. The stock initially jumped to over $11 a share, but soon dropped about 5 percent to around $9.50. After that, the stock was teetering between small gains and small losses, despite the market trading up on the day.

At the end of the day, the shares closed down 50 cents to $9.50.

Earlier this month, Zynga said that it would price its shares at $8.… Read more

Zynga's $1B IPO takes shape, values company at $7B

Social-gaming pioneer Zynga priced its initial public offering at the top of its range--$10 a share--setting the stage for its market debut tomorrow as the next major technology IPO.

The $10 price means Zynga could raise up to $1.15 billion, depending on whether it also offers over-allotted shares, and values the company at roughly $7 billion. That gives Zynga a larger initial market capitalization than videogame giant Electronic Arts, currently valued at $6.9 billion. (Zynga's lead over EA, however, is a narrow one--and definitely not the $2 billion advantage reported elsewhere.)

Zynga announced plans to go public in July. … Read more

Thank you for playing: Addiction feeds Zynga success

When Zynga goes public, Mark Pincus will become a very rich man. Based on what? Ultimately, based on his understanding of human addiction. With analytics to back it up.

Online multiplayer games really should be included the in the list of "sin industries" -- cigarettes, alcohol, gambling -- for the way they profit from human behavioral weakness. It is a great thing to base a business on, and it has been for thousands of years.

Here's how Zynga has appropriated the best practices from these businesses to build what could become an enduring, flexible, and very profitable … Read more