ZyngaWithFriends
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Report: Zynga worth $7-9 billion
The Wall Street Journal says that, with its $250 million in new funding, social gaming company Zynga could be worth as much as $7 to 9 billion -- that's "billion" with a B. An astounding number for the company behind the extraordinarily popular Facebook game Farmville. Zynga has a number of interests in the iOS space, including a Farmville app as well as the recent purchases of iPhone developers Newtoy and the studio behind Drop7. Of course, that number is only an estimate of the company's value, not actual money it's earned. But investors do expect the company to go public within the next few years, and given that Farmville has attracted an audience (and appears to have nailed down a way to make a significant amount of money from an all-new gaming audience), there's no question that Zynga is a huge relatively new force in the gaming space. Zynga is likely not done growing -- the company has picked up one developer per month over the past nine months, and I'll bet that we haven't heard of the last iPhone developer being acquired by them just yet. The iOS platform isn't the only reason for Zynga's huge valuation, but it certainly seems destined to play a part in its future. [via Mashable]
Zynga buys Newtoy, studio rebranded as Zynga With Friends
Well how about this -- Facebook and social game giant Zynga has bought up iPhone developer Newtoy, makers of the popular Games with Friends apps, including Words with Friends and Chess with Friends. Newtoy has now been rebranded as Zynga With Friends, and will apparently be working on new titles for Zynga in their own style. There's no word on what kind of money changed hands, unfortunately, but Zynga is worth around $5.6 billion, so it has plenty to spend. This is that company's seventh such deal in as many months. As deals for iPhone devs go, this is a big one -- Newtoy previously also worked on the We Rule title for Ngmoco, so the studio has extensive experience in social mobile gaming and monetizing those experiences. Zynga is the company behind Farmville, the most successful social game out there, with its own deep roots in the social gaming field. So this will be an interesting combination to be sure. We just chatted with Newtoy's David Bettner at the Austin GDC a little while ago, and he'll be stepping into the position of studio director, with his brother Paul Bettner becoming a Zynga VP and GM of the new studio. Bettner also told us that the company was working on "at least three prototypes that were up and playable," but it's not clear whether those titles will continue to be made or whether Zynga will have their own products for the former Newtoy devs to work on. If nothing else, this is a big vote of confidence in the App Store yet again -- Words with Friends has been a runaway hit for Newtoy, and clearly Zynga sees potential in the "with Friends" brand.
