Facebook gaming titan Zynga is apparently taking a loss of $150 on every new customer it acquires. The claim comes from Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia, who in an interview with Benzinga explained that Zynga spent $120 million on marketing in the first nine months of last year. More >
Facebook gaming titan Zynga has confirmed the acquisition of four mobile developers as it continues its expansion into smartphones. Reuters reports that German developer Gamedoctors, San Francisco's HipLogic, and Page44 Studios, which ported 2D Boy's World Of Goo to iOS, are all on Zynga's books. Head of mobile operations David Ko also confirmed the acquisiton of Mobile Ape, which was reported but never confirmed last August. More >
Social game developer Doubledown Interactive has been acquired by International Game Technology (IGT) in a deal worth $500 million (£326 million). IGT, predominantly a designer and manafacturer of slot machines, says the deal "propels [it] into a leadership position within social gaming." Double Down's most popular social game, Double Down Casino, ended 2011 with 1.4 million daily users and placed fourth in Facebook's list of the year's most popular games. More >
Facebook has relented on its insistence that developers use its standard virtual currency, Facebook Credits, in in-app offers. The move, announced in a blog post, means developers can offer their own virtual currencies as rewards to users for completing advertiser offers, such as signing up for a subscription service or buying from an online store. Developers can now use either their own currency, Credits, or both at once. More >
Greg Borrud, co-founder of Mercenaries and Full Spectrum Warrior developer Pandemic Studios, has unveiled his new venture, social game developer Seismic Games. Speaking to TechCrunch, Borrud, who is co-founder along with fellow Pandemic staffer Eric Gerwitz and ex-Vivendi VP Chris Miller, said Seismic would not be working to the accepted social gaming model on Facebook. More >
Microsoft Studios has announced a multi-year, mult-game strategic partnership with Arkadium, a New York-based developer of social and casual games. In a press release, Arkadium described the deal as "an evolution of the relationship the two companies have been developing over the previous two years." More >
Facebook has renamed its chart of the top 10 games of last year and explained its methodology after its naming of Gardens Of Time as the year's most popular game was met with widespread confusion. The company painted a markedly different picture of gaming on its network , overlooking monthly and daily active users (MAU and DAU), the accepted standard for gauging a Facebook game's popularity. It means Zynga's CityVille, named the biggest-ever game on the platform after amassing 88.4 million users within a month of launch, is restricted to third place on the chart, behind EA's The Sims Social. More >
Yu Suzuki's Ys Net studio has ceased support of Shenmue City, a social game extension of his beloved Dreamcast series for mobile phones. Andriasang reports that the developer posted a brief note on its official website on December 26, notifying users that the service had come to an end and thanking them for their support. More >
Zynga's success and Team Fortress 2's switch prompted an industry-wide shift to freemium in 2011, but has it paid off?
The biggest developer on Facebook finally takes to the stock market, valued at a third of its original target. What happened?
Mark Pincus, CEO of Facebook gaming titan Zynga, has told investors the company can double the number of users who actively contribute to its revenue. Zynga is far and away the most successful developer on Facebook, with 220 million monthly active users across its games, all of which are free to play. In the 12 months to September 30, however, just 7.7 million paid for virtual items. More >
Social developer and publisher Portalarium has announced Ultimate Collector: Garage Sale, a self-explanatory Facebook game designed by Ultima creator, and Portalarium co-founder, Richard Garriott. "The collectible craze is growing leaps and bounds," Garriott said in a press release. "It's been fuelled by cable television programmes such as American Pickers, Pawn Stars and Storage Wars. By the broadest definition, this is an unregulated multibillion dollar industry in the real world." More >
1Zynga has settled its copyright dispute with Brazilian social game developer Vostu. The Facebook gaming titan launched proceedings against Vostu in June, accusing its rival of "blatant copyright infringement" in its games Mini Fazenda, Vostu Poker, Pet Mania, Café Mania and MegaCity. Zynga pointed out the striking resemblance Vostu's games bore to FarmVille, Zynga Poker, PetVille, Café World and CityVille. Vostu's defence was that Zynga's own works were far from original concepts. More >
Gree has unveiled its "borderless" new social gaming platform, promising developers "a truly global, free-to-play ecosystem." Announced last month, Gree's new global platform will include a single sign-on, global payment system and cross-promotional features. Set to launch in the second quarter of next year, Gree says the service will offer "a seamless iOS and Android integration process" with detailed analytics tools. More >
Zynga has priced its shares at between $8.50 and $10 apiece, valuing the company at around $7 billion. TechCrunch reports that the social gaming titan has updated its S-1 filing with the SEC with pricing information. With 100 million shares on offer, the company hopes to raise over a billion dollars. More >
Electronic Arts has confirmed the acquisition of social RPG developer KlickNation, and made it part of the BioWare label. In a press release, EA confirmed yesterday's reports that it was to buy the Sacramento-based developer. The Sacramento-based studio will now join BioWare's existing San Francisco social team to form a new business unit, BioWare social. More >
EA is to acquire social game developer Klicknation, according to reports. Inside Social Games expects EA to announce the acquisition today. The studio, based in Sacramento, California, is relatively small, with just under 360,000 monthly active users on Facebook, according to AppData. More >
Where is the fast-expanding F2P model going and what does it take to succeed in this market?
1Strauss Zelnick, CEO of publisher Take-Two, has questioned Zynga's business model, saying the social gaming titan's proposed IPO has yet to go through because of its "sketchy metrics." Speaking at the Reuters Media Summit yesterday, Zelnick said: "Zynga is a direct marketing company, 97 per cent of [whose customers] don't pay them anything, three per cent who do. They churn quite quickly and they get new customers. That is their model." More >
2Zynga's Mafia Wars 2 has failed to perform to expectations, according to internal sources, following an alarming drop in user numbers since its launch last month. Sources told Business Week that executives are "second-guessing one another about what went wrong." According to AppData, Mafia Wars 2 has lost over a million daily active users (DAUs) on Facebook since the beginning of the month. More >
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