Difference between revisions of "Zynga"

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	===Employee Layoff===		===Employee Layoff===
	This past October 2012, Zynga was reported to lay off 5 percent of employees. <ref>http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/23/3544176/zynga-reportedly-lays-off-100-employees-during-apples-event-shutters</ref> These layoffs took place at Zynga's office in Austin relating to groups who worked on ''The Ville'' and Bingo games. To try and hide this grim news, Zynga's CEO Mark Pincus was reported to have announced the layoffs during an Apple event. In addition to the layoffs at the Austin branch, Zynga's Boston office was also reported to close. <ref>http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/23/zynga-layoffs/</ref>		This past October 2012, Zynga was reported to lay off 5 percent of employees. <ref>http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/23/3544176/zynga-reportedly-lays-off-100-employees-during-apples-event-shutters</ref> These layoffs took place at Zynga's office in Austin relating to groups who worked on ''The Ville'' and Bingo games. To try and hide this grim news, Zynga's CEO Mark Pincus was reported to have announced the layoffs during an Apple event. In addition to the layoffs at the Austin branch, Zynga's Boston office was also reported to close. <ref>http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/23/zynga-layoffs/</ref>
		+
		+	==Copyright==
		+	Zynga has several issues dealing with ethics and copyrights of their game releases.  Recently, SocialApps sued Zynga for stealing their information on myFarm to create FarmVille.  Social Apps signed a Letter of Agreement permitting Zynga access to their source code.  Once Zynga had access, phone lines went dead and they released their new version of FarmVille June 2009 when myFarm was released in 2008 through Facebook <ref> Purchese, Robert.  [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-07-19-socialapps-farmville-stole-myfarm-code SocialApps: FarmVille stole myFarm code] </ref>.  In February 2012, Zynga released a game on iOS called Dream Heights which spuured controversy over NimbleBit, the developers of Tiny Tower.  According to NimbleBit, Zynga copied their game and even attempted to buy out the company but NimbleBit refused <ref> Kumparak, Greg [http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/24/tiny-tower-developers-call-out-zynga-for-their-look-alike-game/ Tiny Tower Developers Call Out Zynga For Copying Their Game </ref>.
		+
		+	In June 2011, Zynga is on the opposite side in where they filed a lawsuit on the Brazilian company Votsu who exists solely to copy Zynga games.  Zynga's complaint was "Vostu has brazenly appropriated the copyright-protected aspects of Zynga’s games(as well as almost every other aspect of Zynga’s business) – with scant effort to mask their strategy– and then offered games virtually identical to Zynga’s games to prospective players in the United States and elsewhere" <ref> Arrington, Michael.  [http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/16/war-zynga-sues-the-hell-out-of-brazilian-clone-vostu/ Zynga sues Votsu] </ref>.  Votsu retalliated claiming they had partnership talks and meetings with Zynga.  They presented a countersuit stating that Zynga cannot claim copyrights over every day objects and places such as barns, farms and chairs and recalls that Zynga has in the past copied designs from other companies as well <ref> Bilton, Nick.  [http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/20/zynga-is-hit-with-countersuit-over-game-designs/] </ref>.
	== '''References''' ==		== '''References''' ==

---

Revision as of 17:36, 8 December 2012

ZYNGA

Get More Play zynga homepage Type Social Game Services Provider Launch Date 2007 Status Active Product Line Games Platform Social Networking Apps iOS Android Website www.zynga.com

ynga is a company which has created several popular social media games. Zynga's games can be played on operating systems like iOS 6 and Android, as well as on the Internet through social media sites like Facebook and Google +. Zynga's mission statement is "Connecting the world through games". It was recently reported that Zynga has over 240 million monthly active users, in over 175 different countries around the world. ^[1] Most of the games Zynga offers are free, however players may also use a credit card or a service such as PayPal to buy virtual currency to purchase in-game virtual goods that enhance, extend, or accelerate gameplay. ^[2]

History

Mark Pincus founded Zynga in 2007 and named the company after his American Bulldog, Zinga. It's headquarters are located in San Francisco, California. Zynga also now has total of 13 studios worldwide, including offices in Sunnyvale, Los Gatos, Los Angeles, Boston, Baltimore, Bangalore, Beijing, and Tokyo. ^[3] Other important "founding fathers" of Zynga include Eric Schiermeyer, Michael Luxton, Justin Waldron, Kyle Stewart, Scott Dale, Steve Schoettler, and Andrew Trader. Today, Zynga has roughly over 2,800 full and part-time employees. ^[4]

Games

Zynga's first game created was Zynga Poker a Texas Hold'em style of online poker gaming. Zynga currently holds 4 of the top leaderboard positions for most monthly active users on Facebook in Cityville, Farmville, Texas Hold'em Poker, and Empires & Allies. ^[5] Zynga currently has 17 Facebook games as well as 15 mobile-title games. Zynga's popular mobile games include Words With Friends, Scrabble With Friends, Hanging With Friends, Mafia Wars, and Zynga Slots. When Zynga acquired omgpop the popular DrawSomething game was added to a the growing list of Zynga games. Zynga's games are available on a number of global platforms, including Facebook, Zynga.com, Google+, Tencent, Apple iOS and Google Android.

List of Games^[6]

Revenue and Growth

Within just the last five years of being founded, Zynga has generated more than $1.5 billion in revenues. This is a huge amount of growth for a small-scale IPO. It is now trying to seize the leading share of a $9 billion virtual goods market that it believes could triple in the next five years. Since its start, the company has received a total of $519 million in funding from individuals and companies alike. Suprising to many, less than 10% of Zynga's revenue comes from advertising, while 36% comes from use outside the United States. On October 5, 2010 Bonfire Studios was acquired by Zynga. This makes Bonfire Studios renamed Zynga Zynga Dallas. ^[7] In December 2011, Zynga began officially trading on NASDAQ under the ticker ZNGA. Shares for the company were initially set at $10, in March 2012 they peaked to just under $15. However, recently Zynga's stock prices have dropped and have been closing in the $2-$3 range for the past couple of months. ^[8] In October of 2012, Zynga shut down its Boston office, letting go over a hundred employees.^[9]

Future

With Zynga's stock plummeting in values, it's earnings were missed this year. CEO Mark Pincus explains one reason for this, due to changes that Facebook made to how it promotes games on its platform. Zynga officials said that Facebook is promoting newer games over older games, which decreased engagement on Zynga’s older titles. Zynga's older titles such as Farmville and Cityville are some of the most popular online games, and since their popularity has fallen the company as a whole is suffering. Also, after Zynga acquired DrawSomething from omgpop for $180 million it "underperformed" and the number of users has been rapidly decreasing. Zynga is addressing each of these areas. CEO Pincus states that "in the future, look for more hits on the desktop, mobile and gambling games, as well as Zynga’s new third-party platform".^[10]

Gambling

In late 2012, Zynga reached an agreement with Bwin.Party—an online gambling site, based in London— to provide real-money online casino games. One announced game will be a Farmville themed slots game. Currently, online real-money gambling is legal in the United Kingdom and much of Europe, but not the United States. The first games will be launched for users in the United Kingdom in early 2013. ^[11] The two firms will be joining their pools of users to under one platform. Barry Cottle, an executive and Zynga explains the companies interest in this deal, “Partnering with an established leader like Bwin.Party is a strategic and prudent way for us to enter a key RMG market while giving local players the real money games they’ve been asking us for.” ^[12]

Zynga on Television

In a move to reduce Zynga's heavy dependence on Facebook, the company agreed to a deal with the technology firm Synacore Inc. Synacore provdies web-TV services to nearly 50 cable, satellite, and telecom companies. With this partnership Zynga hopes to make game currency available to Synacore subscription service users. Starting in 2013, customers with web-TV's will be able to access many of Zynga's games from their television home pages. ^[13]

Ethical Concerns

Advertising Scams

Zynga was at the center of a class action lawsuit following complaints that the developer had used dishonest advertising to generate huge revenues. More than $5 million is being sought from both Zygna and Facebook, the latter being the platform Zynga’s advertisements went through.^[14] Zynga’s cost-per-action ads gave users virtual currency for participating in various surveys, quizzes, or signing up for trial offers. It was alleged that some companies used Zynga’s cost-per-action ads illicitly, making unauthorized credit charges. In November 2009, CEO Mark Pincus admitted that scamming users was part of Zynga's original business model.

"I knew that I wanted to control my destiny, so I knew I needed revenues, right, fucking, now. Like I needed revenues now. So I funded the company myself but I did every horrible thing in the book to, just to get revenues right away. I mean we gave our users poker chips if they downloaded this zwinky toolbar which was like, I dont know, I downloaded it once and couldn’t get rid of it. *laughs* We did anything possible just to just get revenues so that we could grow and be a real business…So control your destiny. So that was a big lesson, controlling your business. So by the time we raised money we were profitable."^[15]

Pincus later insisted that this method was only formerly used and has since vowed that the company’s games do not include scam offers anymore.

Employee Layoff

This past October 2012, Zynga was reported to lay off 5 percent of employees. ^[16] These layoffs took place at Zynga's office in Austin relating to groups who worked on The Ville and Bingo games. To try and hide this grim news, Zynga's CEO Mark Pincus was reported to have announced the layoffs during an Apple event. In addition to the layoffs at the Austin branch, Zynga's Boston office was also reported to close. ^[17]

Copyright

Zynga has several issues dealing with ethics and copyrights of their game releases. Recently, SocialApps sued Zynga for stealing their information on myFarm to create FarmVille. Social Apps signed a Letter of Agreement permitting Zynga access to their source code. Once Zynga had access, phone lines went dead and they released their new version of FarmVille June 2009 when myFarm was released in 2008 through Facebook ^[18]. In February 2012, Zynga released a game on iOS called Dream Heights which spuured controversy over NimbleBit, the developers of Tiny Tower. According to NimbleBit, Zynga copied their game and even attempted to buy out the company but NimbleBit refused ^[19].

In June 2011, Zynga is on the opposite side in where they filed a lawsuit on the Brazilian company Votsu who exists solely to copy Zynga games. Zynga's complaint was "Vostu has brazenly appropriated the copyright-protected aspects of Zynga’s games(as well as almost every other aspect of Zynga’s business) – with scant effort to mask their strategy– and then offered games virtually identical to Zynga’s games to prospective players in the United States and elsewhere" ^[20]. Votsu retalliated claiming they had partnership talks and meetings with Zynga. They presented a countersuit stating that Zynga cannot claim copyrights over every day objects and places such as barns, farms and chairs and recalls that Zynga has in the past copied designs from other companies as well ^[21].

References

1. ↑ CrunchBase: Zynga
2. ↑ Zynga Inc. Company Profile
3. ↑ Zynga
4. ↑ Number of Employees ZNGA
5. ↑ Zynga’s Journey From Founding to IPO
6. ↑ Mobile Games
7. ↑ History of Zynga Inc
8. ↑ How Zynga Grew
9. ↑ TechCrunch: Zynga Just Shut Down Boston Office, Laid Off 100+ Employees From The Ville And Bingo Teams In Austin
10. ↑ Why Zynga's Earnings Missed
11. ↑ Zynga Online Gambling Launch
12. ↑ Zynga Partners with Bwin.Party for Poker in the UK
13. ↑ Zynga to Bundle Games with Cable TV
14. ↑ Zynga faces lawsuit over ad scam
15. ↑ Scamville: The Social Gaming Ecosystem Of Hell
16. ↑ http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/23/3544176/zynga-reportedly-lays-off-100-employees-during-apples-event-shutters
17. ↑ http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/23/zynga-layoffs/
18. ↑ Purchese, Robert. SocialApps: FarmVille stole myFarm code
19. ↑ Kumparak, Greg [http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/24/tiny-tower-developers-call-out-zynga-for-their-look-alike-game/ Tiny Tower Developers Call Out Zynga For Copying Their Game
20. ↑ Arrington, Michael. Zynga sues Votsu
21. ↑ Bilton, Nick. [1]

External Links

• Zynga Official Website
• Zynga Twitter
• Zynga Wikipedia Article

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