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Zynga's Newest Games Flop - Analysts Grow Concerned
Thu Jan 19, 2012 at 10:30 AM ETTags: Zynga, Facebook, Social Games, Industry Trends (all tags)
'Hidden Chronicles' has just 14% of the user base that 'CastleVille' had after launch.
Ever since Zynga stock went public, the company has been under very close watch by analysts. After all, Zynga is the biggest company of its kind and could very well determine the future of social gaming with its success or failure. So far in 2012, things are leaning towards the latter.
In 2011, Zynga launched 'CastleVille' and 'Empires & Allies' which both accrued over 5 million daily active users (DAUs) within just two weeks. By comparison, the company's most recent title, 'Hidden Chronicles,' sits at just 710,000 DAUs.
Cowen and Company analyst Doug Creutz explains that there's a regular dropoff rate of around 18% in DAUs on new titles. That means to keep the same amount of people involved, the new games have to do at least as well as the old ones. "The company must add 9-10 million DAUs per quarter from new games just to keep total DAUs constant."
Source: Gamasutra
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'Angry Birds' Developers Reportedly Turn Down $2.25 Billion Buyout Offer
Tue Nov 29, 2011 at 09:30 AM ETTags: Angry Birds, Rovi, Zynga, PopCap (all tags)
Apparently, working conditions at Zynga are just that bad.
$2.25 billion dollars. Let that sink in a moment. $2.25 billion. That's enough to buy a B-2 stealth bomber and still have $50 million to spare. That's, well, that's a crazy large amount of money. Now think about turning that down. That's exactly what Rovi did.
It's just been let out that Rovi, the company behind 'Angry Birds,' was offered $2.25 billion in cash and stock as part of an acquisition deal by Zynga. Rovi said they'd have to turn down the lucrative offer based on a dislike of the company culture. Long work hours, overbearing managers and stressful deadlines are among the complaints.
Zynga - a name you'll recognize if you play 'FarmVille' or many of the other Facebook games floating around - offered a $950 million deal to PopCap games but was turned down for the same reason.
This general worker unhappiness with Zynga is getting attention. Large developers and publishers in more traditional games will certainly be going after the best and brightest of Zynga by offering a better work environment and more creative freedom.
Source: Gamespot
See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.
'Angry Birds' Developers Reportedly Turn Down $2.25 Billion Buyout Offer
Tue Nov 29, 2011 at 09:30 AM ETTags: Angry Birds, Rovi, Zynga, PopCap (all tags)
Apparently, working conditions at Zynga are just that bad.
$2.25 billion dollars. Let that sink in a moment. $2.25 billion. That's enough to buy a B-2 stealth bomber and still have $50 million to spare. That's, well, that's a crazy large amount of money. Now think about turning that down. That's exactly what Rovi did.
It's just been let out that Rovi, the company behind 'Angry Birds,' was offered $2.25 billion in cash and stock as part of an acquisition deal by Zynga. Rovi said they'd have to turn down the lucrative offer based on a dislike of the company culture. Long work hours, overbearing managers and stressful deadlines are among the complaints.
Zynga - a name you'll recognize if you play 'FarmVille' or many of the other Facebook games floating around - offered a $950 million deal to PopCap games but was turned down for the same reason.
This general worker unhappiness with Zynga is getting attention. Large developers and publishers in more traditional games will certainly be going after the best and brightest of Zynga by offering a better work environment and more creative freedom.
Source: Gamespot
See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.
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