Tag Archives: OMGPop

Zynga shuttered Draw Something developer OMGPOP yesterday as part of a mass round of lay-offs, and one former employee has explained the sense of relief at the studio once the order came down the corporate pipe, stating that no one was surprised by the move.

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Draw Something creators OMGPOP have shuttered during a run of mass lay-offs at parent company Zynga.

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Zynga, who acquired OMGPOP last year, have confirmed that Draw Something 2 is now available in the US for iOS devices. The sequel will feature a live social feed, player’s own gallery, a Free Draw mode that allows players to draw whatever they desire and share it with friends, new drawing tools and many new words.

Thanks to Polygon, who report the news was initially announced by Zynga CEO Mark Pincus during an investor call. The game is already available on iOS in Sweden (where it costs 22 kronor) and Canada (CA$2.99).

OMGpop founder and Zynga New York head Dan Porter is leaving the company as is to be replaced by vice president of mobile, Sean Kelly. Porter came on board when Zynga purchased his Draw Sopmtheing studio for$180 million, and his tenure has a few controversial moments: one of which was an open letter regarding claims that the studio copies other studio’s titles. Porter claimed every studio copies another and Zynga wasn’t exempt.

Draw Something owner Zynga has revealed that the doodling mobile app has been downloaded over a 100 million times since it launched.

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Wilson Kriegel has left Zynga. The former OMGPop chief revenue officer joined the company when it acquired the Draw Something developer in March 2012.

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CBS has ordered a TV game show on Draw Something, after being introduced to the unscripted pilot based on the OMGpop and Zynga’s game. The project was executive produced by Ryan Seacrest and Michael Davies, and each week teams of celebrities and actual players of the game will play it before a studio audience for prize money. Viewers can also play “along at home for a chance to win prizes and compete with the celebrities.” No word on when the first episode will air, according to Deadline.

An AdAge report states Zynga plans to add brands into Draw Something as word items for players to draw. The firm is currently selling advertisers the option to include branded item names into the game, starting with the National Hockey League. Granted, you can already draw Doritos and KFC in the game – as our horrible depictions of a KFC bucket can attest – but it sounds as if there will be more brands heading into the game in the near future. Like many gaming apps on mobile, the free version of the game supports ads, where as the paid-app does not.

A report from analyst group App Data suggests daily usage for Draw Something has fallen by five million users in one month. The 33% decline comes on the heels of the Zynga buyout of OMGPop which saw the social game firm outbidding other interested parties with a $210 million acquisition. The title continues to fall towards the bottom of the App Store charts, with DAU peaking at 15 million in April to 10 million 30 days later. Thanks, Develop.

Zynga CEO Mark Pincus has said the buyout of Draw Something developer OMGPop was what he called a “rare instance” for the company.

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Zynga has pushed out a free update to the iOS version of Draw Something which allows players to save and share their own drawings.

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Zynga expects more acquisitions on the scale of OMGPop within the next three to five years, according to company executives. Speaking with Bloomberg, the firm said the $180 million it doled out for the Draw Something developer wasn’t a one-off, as “a few” more deals are planned for the future. “We love finding great, accomplished teams that share our mission and vision,” said CEO Mark Pincus. “If we ever see breakout opportunities that massively accelerate social gaming at Zynga, we’ll aggressively pursue those, too.” Over the last two years, the firm has spent $147.2 million on acquiring 22 companies in addition to OMGPop. Via Bloomberg.

Draw Something has surpassed 50 million downloads in just 50 days. Released in February, the game quickly became a hit with iPhone and Android users with 6 million drawings created, and on launch day alone, three draws per second were recorded. That figure is now at 3,000 drawings per second. The game is now owned by Zynga which wrote OMGPoP a check for $180 million last month. Thanks, VentureBeat.

While it’s not $200 million, it sure is damned close: SEC filings dug up by GI.biz show that Zynga paid a whopping $180 million in cash for Draw Something maker OMGPOP. Analysts and insiders earlier this week suggested the figure would range between $200- $210 million. Draw Something has been downloaded over 35 million times and over 1 billion drawings have been produced. Likely that figure is much higher today, as I went on a massive Draw Something spree last night into the wee hours. [image]

Draw Something is such a massive success that Zynga bought its developer, OMGPOP, for an estimated $200 million – but like Rovio, OMGPOP had plenty of misses before its one big hit.

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Analysts and investors expected EA to snap up OMGPOP, and aren’t happy to see Zynga stepping up to the plate instead.

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It has been confirmed that Zynga has purchased Draw Something maker OMGPOP. According to a report on ArsTechnica, via AllThingsD, the offer from the firm is worth around the $210 million mark.

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Trade whispers say Zynga is the most aggressive suitor of a number of companies eager to snap up OMGPop.

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OMGPop’s lightweight Pictionary-like Draw Something is the biggest earner on the App Store.

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