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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'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.
