Tag Archives: zynga

Social Games MIA at E3 Expo

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E3 likes to position itself as the launch point for the future of gaming.

Already this week, Nintendo has unveiled Wii U, its next generation console; Sony has shown off its new portable device (dubbed PlayStation Vita) and the big games of holiday 2011 — and, in some cases, 2012 — are on display.

But while console and dedicated handheld systems are well represented here — and games for mobile phones have a moderate presence — there are very few social network gaming companies at the show. And given the growing size of that segment of the industry, that’s a major hole.

Read more at CNBC.com

Report: Social games giant Zynga to file IPO

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With a valuation of $10 billion, Zynga is by far the largest private game maker in the industry. Now investors hoping to get a piece of that pie may have their chance.

Tech blog AllThingsDigital reports the company could file for a public offering as early as this week. Once that IPO takes place, the company is widely expected to be the second biggest publicly-traded publisher in the industry, far surpassing Electronic Arts and Take-Two Interactive Software.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog

Lady Gaga hits the virtual farm with — wait for it — GagaVille

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Not content being the queen of social media, Lady Gaga is now taking her act to social gaming.

The iconic pop star has teamed with social games maker Zynga to create GagaVille, a newly created FarmVille farm which will give her little monsters the chance to hear unreleased songs from her forthcoming album, “Born This Way,” before anyone else.

Read more at Yahoo! Games

EA COO jumps ship

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Video game industry veteran John Schappert, who has served as chief operating officer at Electronic Arts for the past two years, has quietly left the company.

Schappert’s last day was yesterday – and media reports indicate he plans to join social gamers maker (and EA rival) Zynga in an undisclosed role.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog

Game companies line up to aid Japan

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As recovery efforts continue in Japan after a devastating 8.9 magnitude earthquake and accompanying tsunami, the video game industry is rallying to aid in the relief.

Some publishers are reaching into their own pockets to donate, while others — along with select members of the development community — are leveraging their customer base to raise money.

Read more at Yahoo! Games

Interview: PopCap’s Roberts Talks IPO Reports, Why ‘Good Games Are Good Games’

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[Gamasutra editor-at-large Chris Morris talks to PopCap CEO David Roberts about the rise of casual gaming, the possibility of an initial public offering for the company later this year, and why Bejeweled’s popularity rises from the fact that “good games are good games.”]

PopCap Games, to borrow (and slightly mangle) a phrase from Barbara Mandrell, was casual when casual wasn’t cool.

Long before companies like Rovio and Zynga were dominating headlines, the Seattle-based development house was building a loyal following with titles like Bejeweled and Bookworm. And that gives it some perspective in this fast-growing market.

Read more at Gamasutra

Dreamworks brings MegaMind to Farmville

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In-game advertising is hardly a rare thing. And film/game tie-ins are pretty frequent as well – but Dreamworks and Zynga are taking things a step further on Nov. 4.

For the first time, a studio will promote its newest film in a social networking game when “Megamind” comes to the insanely popular “Farmville”.

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog

Social Game Maker Zynga’s Market Valuation Tops $5.5B

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A lot of people might not know Zynga’s name, but they sure know its games. “Farmville,” “Mafia Wars,” and “Café World” are some of the biggest titles on Facebook – and continue to draw hundreds of millions of players per month.

That has led to massive growth at the social gaming company. And now SharePost, an exchange for shares of privately held companies, has put a valuation of $5.51 billion on Zynga. If accurate, that would make the company the second largest publisher in the video game industry – ahead of Electronic Arts and far ahead of Take-Two Interactive Software, but still less than industry leader Activision-Blizzard.

Read more at CNBC.com

Study: Gamers get social

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Disney’s $563 million purchase earlier this month of Playdom had its skeptics, but a new survey showing the reach of the social game market could silence the deal’s critics.

The NPD Group, which tracks the sales of video games, reports that 20 percent of the U.S. population has played a game on Facebook or some other social network in the past three months. That works out to 56.8 million people tending virtual farms or collecting virtual bugs.

Read more at Daily Variety