Category Archives: Zynga

Zynga has closed its Baltimore studio and shuffled staff around in New York and Texas, resulting in “minimal” job cuts.

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EA and Zynga have settled over claims that the Zynga’s “The Ville” infringed on EA’s “The Sims Social,” reports Bloomberg. The report states the actual contents of the settlement were not reveled, only that both parties had reached a settlement. Back in August 2012, EA filed a copyright infringement suit over the social game maker’s Facebook game The Ville, claiming it “copied the original and distinctive expressive elements,” of The Sims Social. The following month, Zynga filed a countersuit stating the copyright infringement claim had “no merit” and was “anticompetitive” among other things. Zynga’s game was eventually shuttered last fall anyway, but not due to the lawsuit: it was because no one played the thing.

Zynga’s stock has hit a six-month high, rising 11% following months of financial turmoil, lay-offs and walk-outs. The increase comes as New Jersey Governor Chris Christie opened up the possibility for legally-sanctioned real money gaming.

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X-Men: The Last Stand director Brett Ratner has signed on to produce an animated TV series based on Farmville. Deadline reports production will be handled by Canadian company Six Eleven media. No network has picked up the series yet. Ratner’s also behind the Rush Hour series and the upcoming Hercules: The Thracian Wars; he described FarmVille as “one of the most exciting brands out there today” with “endless” cross-platform opportunities. An Angry Birds cartoon is moving forward this year, too.

Thanks, IGN.

Zynga’s cost-cutting measures over the last quarter have borne fruit, with the social publisher dramatically reducing losses in its latest financial report.

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Brian Reynolds, a chief game designer at Zyna East who announced his departure this week, has said on VentureBeat today he is considering starting his own development firm.

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Brian Reynolds has left Zynga, the social publisher has confirmed in a statement issued to Joystiq. The veteran developer joined Zynga in 2009 and has left to “pursue other opportunities”. He was chief game designer of the successful Frontierville, and his past credits include Rise of Nations and Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri.

Although it’s been a few months since the last publicised departure, Zynga has lost a significant chunk of its senior management and development team over the past year.

Zynga’s stock jumped in value by 14% on Monday to close at $2.84, an unenviable but improved high.

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Despite Zynag’s prevailing issues with closures, financials, and exiting executives, the firm’s FarmVille 2 is doing rather well. According to an inforgraphic released by the firm, the social farming simulation game – which launched in September – has 40 million monthly active users and 8 million daily users.

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Zynga has announced the imminent closure of its Japanese studio, ending support for all but one game.

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Zynga closed at least six social games in December, bringing its list of the fallen to 11 casualties.

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Zynga boss Mark Pincus has earned the dubious honour of a place on go-to business news publication Bloomberg‘s Worst CEOs of 2012 list. Pincus is in at number four of five thanks to Zynga’s 75% stock dive this year coupled with share offloading and uncomfortable reliance on Facebook. The only other gaming-related entry is former Best Buy leader Brian Dunn. Not as pleasant as being on Forbes’s 30 under 30, hey?

Thanks, GameInformer.

Following on from its real-money gambling deal in the UK, social publisher Zynga is taking steps to do the same in the US.

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Coastervilla is the latest game from Zynga’s Los Angeles development team, which also produced the popular Empires & Allies. Players are tasked with building the ultimate amusement park including laying out roller coasters which, to get real for a second, sounds almost exactly like Theme Park. If that’s your bag (whose isn’t it?) take a look on Facebook; the end-game promises new features like hotels and boardwalk games once the park is complete. Trailer through the break.

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Zynga’s volatile and rapidly declining fortunes have led companies investing in start-ups to become wary, and has resulted in new gaming start-ups being valued lower than they might have been in previous years. It’s not a problem exclusive to gaming, but people are now being more cautious in how highly they price-up new acquisitions.

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Zynga has announced the closure of Mafia Wars 21 on December 30. A follow-up to one of the social publisher’s earliest major successes, the Facebook title has failed to capture long lasting interest from punters, and is the latest victim of Zynga’s belt-tightening as it struggles to transition away from social gaming’s apparent decline. Games.com reports players have been offered a bonus package in CastleVille, ChefVille, FarmVille 2, Mafia Wars or YoVille to compensate them for the loss of invested time.

Thanks, Kotaku.

Zynga and Facebook have re-negotiated their mutual contract to better reflect a new world where neither company is as central to the other as five years ago.

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Zynga has launched a promotion through which it will donate the full price of specified in-app items to Toys for Tots, a charity providing holiday gifts to under-privileged kids.

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Zynga Mobile UK GM Matthew Wiggins has announced his resignation after signing on with the social game maker a little over a year and a half ago. Without going into detail on his future plans, Wiggins noted on his blog he is looking forward to working on “new goals” he’s set for himself. “The opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurism are even better now, and having learned so much from the journey I’ve just been on, I can’t wait to use that knowledge to do new things in the future,” he wrote. Wiggins was the co-founder and CEO of Godfinger developer Wonderland Software, which Zynga acquired in April 2011. Thanks, GI International.

AllThingsD reports Tim LeTourneau has been named Zynga’s chief creative officer following the departure of Mike Verdu at the end of August. LeTourneau previously served as vice president of games and oversaw the successful launch of Farmville 2. He is an EA veteran who spent many years working on the Sims franchise.

Thanks, GamesIndustry.