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Zynga settles data theft suit with former employee
Social game publisher Zynga has settled its lawsuit against former Cityville general manager Alan Patmore over alleged theft of company secrets. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed. Zynga filed the suit in October of last year, accusing Patmore of copying more than 760 files containing "confidential game designs from teams around the company" to his Dropbox account before departing for his current position as the vice president of product at rival online game producer Kixeye. "I accept responsibility for making a serious mistake by copying and taking Zynga confidential information when I resigned from Zynga," Patmore said in a statement today. "I understand the consequences of my actions and I sincerely apologize to Zynga and my former colleagues." TechCrunch reports that the two companies issued a joint statement yesterday: "Zynga Inc. and KIXEYE Inc. have reached a mutually agreeable settlement of their litigation involving Alan Patmore in San Francisco Superior Court."
Zynga closing three games including CityVille 2
In a conference call yesterday, Zynga revealed plans to close three titles: The Friend Game, Party Place, and CityVille 2. The closure of CityVille 2 especially stands out since the game launched a few short months ago and lead designer Brian Reynolds announced he was leaving the social game giant in January.In the company's 2012 financial statement, Zynga posted a loss of $209.4 million.On a positive note, Zynga said FarmVille 2 is exceeding expectations by 100% last quarter and generating $100 million in gross bookings since launch.Zynga admitted to analysts that FarmVille 2 may have cannibalized some of CityVille 2's attention, having launched a month before CityVille's sequel. The company said that in the future it will make sure to have fewer titles in general, and leave more space between planned game launches. Zynga is also excited about upcoming mobile and "midcore" titles (defined as "hardcore" games that can be played for only a few minutes at a time), and CEO Mark Pincus says 2013 will be a "pivotal year" for Zynga, with a goal to "make it easier and better to play across mobile and social."
Zynga suing former Cityville GM over theft of trade secrets
A former Zynga general manager has allegedly stolen trade secrets, the social games company claims in a new lawsuit. Zynga believes Alan Patmore, who previously worked on Cityville, uploaded a number of company assets to a Dropbox account from his company computer, both on the day before and day of his departure from the company. Said assets included, among other things, information on Zynga's game mechanics, internal assessments of Cityville's performance, monetization plans, company emails and design documents (including the final design document for an as yet unreleased game).Zynga feels Patmore, who now works for social game company Kixeye, will use the information to directly compete with his former employer. Specifically, Zynga states that the stolen data "could be used to improve a competitor's internal understanding and know-how of core game mechanics and monetization techniques, its execution, and ultimately its market standing to compete more effectively with Zynga."Furthermore, the company claims that, upon leaving the company, Patmore refused to sign a "termination certification," which "merely reaffirmed" his contractual obligations, among them not to take any of the company's "sensitive data."
Zynga's business valued at 'nothing'; CityVille 2 'coming soon'
With the walls closing in, Zynga announced CityVille 2 is in closed beta. The company couldn't share any info but to say it "delivers a truly social and visually rich city building experience." It will launch soon. Not that investors seem to currently care.As the LA Times notes, Zynga's combined cash, securities and real estate assets are currently worth about $2.46 a share, according to analysts. But, its stock is currently trading below that price (as of this writing: $2.43), which means the company's games business is essentially worth "nothing."These dark tidings come as brothers Paul and David Bettner, known for Words with Friends, leave Zynga. This is on top of so many high-profile departures we'd be bombarding you every other day with a post, but let's just close this off by saying some milestone moments were the departures of chief creative officer Mike Verdu, chief operating officer John Schappert and Draw Something studio OMGPOP's Wilson Kriegel.Forbes points out Zynga's stock is down 74 percent this year, making it one of the worst-performing stocks among U.S. companies with market caps over a billion dollars. And, to think, when Zynga went public last December everything looked like it was going to be sunshine and lollipops... oh, wait, no it didn't.
Hasbro's Zynga board games now available, paradoxical
Lest you hadn't heard, Hasbro and Zynga recently teamed up to create board game versions of its popular video games. That includes a CityVille-themed version of Monopoly, a weird mash-up of FarmVille and Hungry Hungry Hippos, and Draw Something (the board game mechanics of which should be self-explanatory).Bizarrely, the collection also includes a board game version of Words with Friends. Words with Friends is often cited as being very similar – practically to the point of infringement – to Scrabble, the classic word game published by ... Hasbro. Just to reiterate: this is the board game version of a video game version of a different board game published by a company that should be, in theory, a competitor.Try not to let your head explode.
AMEX and Zynga team up for themed card, replace cash back with FarmVille rewards
Have you ever judged a friend's financial savvy based on the rewards yield of the cards in their wallet? Now you won't have a choice. For those of you that abhor free flights, detest comped hotel rooms and net severe displeasure from earning cash back, AMEX may finally have your plastic match. It's called the Zynga Serve Rewards card -- yes, the same Zynga that's behind time-sink cash cows like FarmVille, CityVille and CastleVille (?!) -- and it enables you to accrue "Zynga Farm Cash," which as you might imagine provides no financial gratification in the physical world. "FarmVille players now have the ability to plant an interactive Serve Money Tree in their Farms which will give them the ability to level up in game and earn Zynga Farm Cash for virtual awards redemption." We can't make this stuff up. The co-branded prepaid card is tied to a US currency-filled bank account, debit or credit card, and rewards will be assigned for your first five purchases of $25 -- at launch, with further incentives to come later this year. On top of that limitation, there's also a fairly outrageous fee structure (which effectively translates to 2.9 percent of each transaction when the account is funded with another credit card), detailed in full at the source link. Well, at least the card is colorful. Go tell that "Serve Money Tree" that water's on the way!
Free for All: Why social gaming could destroy MMOs and how we can fight it
I am a huge fan of social media. Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus -- it all makes sense to me and has shown to be a very useful tool in not only communicating with friends but finding new games, developers, and websites. My Twitter feed provides enough news and information that I can skip any standard media. I haven't watched a local newscast for a long, long time. On top of that, I can communicate with readers in real time, sharing photos and tidbits of cool. Has social media affected MMO gaming? It definitely has. Watch any smart developer's Twitter feed and you will see the community team interacting directly with players, answering questions, hosting contests, and helping players feel as though the developers are actual people. Social media has also changed how we connect to our games, MMO or not. All of this means that everything is social now. Going to the dentist? Share it with your friends. Defeated a boss monster on your Xbox? Tweet it. Just picked up that epic sword in Dark Age of Camelot? Post it to your Facebook. Heck, many MMOs now have a Twitter or Facebook option built right into the client. All of this instant connectivity is nice, but it's possible that the "massively" part of MMO will soon apply to any game. What will this do to the genre?
Zynga Platform launches in open beta
Well, that was fast. Just days after announcing its Zynga Platform, the casual and social games giant has revealed Zynga Platform is now available in open beta form. Like, you can go to Zynga.com right now and play some games. As of writing this post, 1.6 million people are currently doing just that.Some functionality isn't live right now, but if you're a seasoned player, you'll find your progress there waiting for you on Zynga Platform. You can set up a Zynga profile, add some zFriends (ugh) and chat, and play any of the five games available: CastleVille, Words with Friends, CityVille, Hidden Chronicles and Zynga Poker.
Facebook's most popular games list topped by Playdom (which isn't Zynga)
You'll excuse our baffled aghast, but we just saw Facebook's most played games of 2011 list and were mesmerized by this list of stuff we've never heard of. Also, we're surprised that Disney-owned Playdom sits at the top of the list with Gardens of Time, while Zynga's myriad "Ville" offerings, "... with Friends" games, Empires & Allies, and Adventure World are instead scattered throughout the bottom nine. EA's The Sims Social edges out Zynga as well for the number two spot, though neither Playdom nor EA can compare to Zynga's four entires on the top 10. According to Facebook, the list is put together by "looking at the top games on Facebook with more than 100,000 monthly active users and giving priority to those games with the highest user satisfaction scores."
Zynga registers domains for 'Forestville'
Printing money is a lot easier than you might think. The conventional method of using a giant steampunk-tentacle robot to steal printing plates from a maximum-security bank vault is no longer necessary; these days all you need is access to Facebook APIs and the suffix "ville." Zynga, having no reason to halt their eternally forward march into a dollar-filled future, may be looking to add another printing press to its already well-stocked stable of money making franchises. The domain detectives at Fusible have unearthed several recently registered URLs, all related to the presently unannounced IP Forestville. Registered through MarkMonitor, an intermediary used by A-list companies to register and hold domain names, the addresses run the gamut from forestvillegame.com to forestvillewithfriends.com and forestvillezynga.com. Forestville.com is not among the registered domains, however, as it already belongs to the Forestville Central School District. Nothing else is known about the project as of yet, but we'd put good money on this being a micro-social Forest Whitaker simulator.
Glitch dev lashes out against Zynga's business model
Not all social games developers are in love with Zynga's business model. Some are bucking against what Tiny Speck's Stewart Butterfield is calling a "scorched earth policy" that will do far more harm in the long run than what helps the industry now. Butterfield is the co-founder of Tiny Speck, which recently launched the sleeper MMO hit Glitch. While both Glitch and Zynga's games are browser-based and use microtransactions to fund the titles, the similarities end there. Butterfield says that he is adverse to how Zynga creates artificial walls in its games: "The fundamental design of the game became 'Here's a stop sign in your gameplay, you can stop now and come back in a day, or you can keep on playing and it will cost you three bucks, or a buck, or ten bucks, or whatever it is.'" Butterfield called Zynga's approach "unsavoury" and said that it leads to burned-out players and a "lame future" for the genre where gamers are unwilling to return. Ultimately, he predicts that people will forget Zynga's efforts entirely: "They won't be as into it as someone who's playing WoW is in to WoW, or someone who's playing EVE is into EVE, or even someone who's playing Civilization IV is into Civilization IV. It's a much lighter touch." For more Stewart Bufferfield goodness, make sure to check out our interview with him on Massively Speaking!
Zynga's CastleVille hopes to enter MMO territory
Zynga, maker of social games FarmVille and CityVille, has declared its intention to take the plunge into the MMO market with a new game: CastleVille. "Zynga is bringing massively multiplayer role-playing games to the mass market," creative director Bill Jackson announced from Zynga's San Francisco HQ. What game mechanics justify calling the game an MMO? According to Jackson: You can build your castle, show it to your friends, and craft things like potions or armor. You can follow the game's story and its characters. You can trade and barter with friends by visiting their towns. And you have to defend your town against beasts who are outside the walls. The game has more personalized storytelling; players explore the world around them. You meet characters and make them happy and unlock new characters as you progress. Chief executive Mark Pincus echoed his company's bold plans: "We want to give you more of a World of Warcraft feeling, but packaged up in something you can understand in three clicks and five or 15 minutes."
CityVille launches on Google Plus
Google Plus' casual gaming cabinet may not be as fully stocked as the Facebook alternative, but one crucial missing piece of the puzzle has just been filled in: Megalithic social monolith Zynga has ported CityVille, their most popular Facebook game, to Google's fledgling platform. The release comes shortly after the end of Google Plus' closed beta, and now that its e-doors are open to the public, we doubt this will be the end of Zynga's extra-Facebook expansion. Seeing as the company just posted a 95 percent drop in profit year over year, developing its products beyond its existing user base is a shrewd move.
Zynga: Xbox Live 'too small a demographic'
Don't worry about Farmville infiltrating your Xbox 360 (and the subsequent requests from your mom and your friends that would soon follow thereafter). According to Zynga chief game designer, Brian Reynolds, the Xbox 360 landscape is small potatoes -- Zynga's after broader audiences and the user base on one measly console is simply not big enough to warrant interest. "[Xbox Live's] too small a demographic," Reynolds told IndustryGamers. "Think about, of my friends, how many of them own an Xbox 360? Well, I'm a game developer and I even come from a triple-A space so we might even be in the double digits... Twenty or maybe even thirty percent of my friends might have an Xbox 360, but effectively 100% of them have Facebook and effectively 100% of them have a mobile phone. Of them, probably 90% have a smartphone." Reynolds would then go on to say that the mobile space is the next area Zynga expects to put its efforts into. He says it's all about the number of people who could possibly partake in the social experience -- on the Xbox 360, he estimates "the amount of social capital that there is isn't going to be very high" on the platform. The less people on a platform, the less revenue Zynga projects to make and, thus, the less likely it is the company will be on that platform. "That's why right now we're on Facebook for sure, and mobile is the obvious next place for us to go because it is an inherently social platform," Reynolds concluded.
Super Meat Boy postmortem, Angry Birds and Zynga talks announced for GDC 2011
In case you didn't know, it's the 25th anniversary of the Game Developers Conference this year, and that means a load of extra special presentations. Beyond the head of Nintendo keynoting, the laundry list of legendary developers giving "classic" postmortems, and various announcements, it was revealed today that Super Meat Boy devs Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes ("Team Meat") will be giving a postmortem of their own. And hey, we think they're pretty extra special. Additionally, Zynga VP of product development Mark Skaggs will be discussing his company's evolution, framed around the release of FarmVille and the push towards CityVille over the last year -- we'd suggest fledgling Facebook millionaires not be late. And finally, rounding out today's announcement is news of an Angry Birds talk from Rovio's Peter Vesterbacka (self-claimed "Head Eagle" at the studio). We'll be on hand at GDC bringing you all the meaty, free-to-play, bird-flinging news as it breaks.
CityVille's monthly user population now 100 million strong
We had an inkling this CityVille thing our mom keeps sending us requests in would be a big deal, but we underestimated just how big. After launching and quickly overtaking FarmVille's active monthly user count, Zynga's latest casual hit has now approached "sensation" levels of interest: it's enjoying over 100 million active users right now. Casual Gaming reports there are now a total of 100,064,578 monthly active users. FarmVille's active monthly user count hovers around 57 million. Now, in case you don't quite get how big a deal this is, know that CityVille only launched on December 2, 2010 -- FarmVille's been on Facebook since June of 2009. So, in under seven weeks, Zynga's managed to usurp the most popular game on Facebook and almost double its user count. Actually, now that we think about it, can you usurp yourself? Eh, we're sure Zynga's far too busy counting cash money to ponder such matters.
CityVille overtakes FarmVille's monthly active user count
Much like the offspring of real-life rural families yearn for a slice of that big city livin', the world of Zynga's Facebook-based social game CityVille has passed up the monthly active user count posted by former genre leader, FarmVille. In December -- the game's release month, no less -- the urban development sim pulled in 84.2 million active users, slightly edging out FarmVille's record of 83.7 million users set in March 2010. However, CityVille hasn't had the daily active user retention that FarmVille managed to maintain at the height of its popularity. At the end of its release month, CityVille was pulling in around 20 percent of its monthly user base every day, slightly less than the 30 percent DAU retention FarmVille regularly boasts. Then again, is it that surprising that country folk are more dependable than city slickers? They clean up animal excrement like, every day, and they never even complain.
