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The Daily Roundup for 07.01.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Ex-Xbox chief Don Mattrick lands at Zynga, officially (update: comments from Ballmer and Mattrick)
We just got the news that ex-head of Xbox, Don Mattrick, was out at Microsoft, and now we know where he's going: Zynga. AllThingsD reports that Mattrick is officially the new CEO of the casual social gaming firm, and Mark Pincus, the current CEO, is stepping down from that position to make room for Mattrick's arrival. Fear not for Pincus, however, as the founder of Zynga will maintain a role at the company as chairman and chief product officer. Naturally, Zynga's thrilled with the hire, though we're still awaiting word from Redmond on the matter. You can get Pincus' take on Mattrick at the source below. Update: Steve Ballmer has posted a memo about Mattrick's departure, calling it "a great opportunity for Don" and thanking him for his hard work at Microsoft. Update 2: AllThingsD has Mattrick's first letter to Zynga's employees, in which he states the "mission to connect the world through games is just getting started."
Don Mattrick named Zynga's new CEO
Don Mattrick has been named the new CEO of Zynga, the social games company just announced in a blog post. He starts next week. "Going forward I'll continue in my role as Chairman and Chief Product Officer," said outgoing CEO Mark Pincus. "I'm excited to partner with Don and the rest of our team to return Zynga to its leadership role in inventing and growing Play as a core human experience." Before his departure, Mattrick was the president of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business, handling products such as the Xbox One. Prior to Microsoft he served as president of worldwide studios at Electronic Arts. Leaping from the frying pan into the fire, Mattrick will now have to pick up the pieces of Zynga, which has struggled with departures and sweeping layoffs.
Report: Xbox prez Don Mattrick leaving for Zynga [update: It's official]
Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business President Don Mattrick (the head of Xbox) is leaving the company, reports AllThingsD. Citing multiple sources, he'll be heading for a top job at Zynga, with an announcement coming as soon as today. Mattrick's move to Zynga could be what that company needs – and one that may be a blessing in disguise for Microsoft. Zynga has struggled since its IPO, hemorrhaging talent and shutting down studios. Meanwhile, at Microsoft, there's a reason we call it the Xbox One-80 now. A fresh face couldn't hurt. We've reached out to Microsoft for a statement. Zynga has replied with a "no comment." Update: It's official.
Solstice Arena is an inventive mobile MOBA from a surprising source
This is Portabliss, a column about downloadable games that can be played on the go. Solstice Arena appeared on the App Store last week. It's a MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) game in which you choose a hero and play a top-down 3v3 match. Using various spells and abilities, you attack the opposing heroes and try to take out their towers before they do the same to yours. It's deep, well-balanced, and it's an inventive take on the burgeoning genre, designed from the ground up for mobile platforms and touchscreens. And oh yeah, it was published by Zynga. The mention of Zynga may conjure up more thoughts of smarmy farm animals and dessicated drawing games than it does words like "deep" and "inventive," but that's kind of the point. Zynga picked up the developer A Bit Lucky last year, and then immediately put them to work on something that could change the company's reputation, a "mid-core" title that did more right than it did wrong. And though you may be surprised, Solstice Arena succeeds at that task. It's probably not the next League of Legends (though Zynga wouldn't mind if it was), but it does represent the inklings of a new leaf for a huge casual game publisher on the wane.
Daily iPhone App: Solstice Arena is Zynga's shot at multiplayer online battle arenas
I first got to see Solstice Arena, Zynga's latest iOS entry, at GDC earlier this year, and then had a short meeting again last week with the publisher at E3. But you no longer have to take my word on what it's like: The game arrived on iOS worldwide last week, so you can grab the free-to-download title at your leisure. And I recommend you do. Zynga has a reputation for pushy freemium elements in goofy casual titles, but I can confirm this game has none of that. This is a true mobile MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) title, similar to League of Legends, but very iOS-centric in its delivery. The game has been simplified in a lot of very smart ways, producing a high-quality title that's very impressive. In my own play, I've found some minor balance issues (the healer character, for example, seems awfully overpowered, especially when teamed up with a burly bruiser), but I am sure those will get evened out as the game gets periodic updates and tweaks. And while yes, this is a freemium title, that part is also done very intelligently. The freemium elements are mostly confined to customization and convenience. Just like League of Legends, the game opens up a number of free heroes to play every week, so there's ongoing variety even if you never spend a dime. And if you do, real money can only buy you custom skins for the heroes you own, or can pay for boosts in your own XP, so spending money doesn't affect the gameplay at all. Prices are a bit high (which is something else I expect will likely be tweaked in a future update), but all in all, the freemium elements almost never get in the way of the gameplay, which is very respectable on Zynga's part. In short, Solstice Arena is exactly the kind of game Zynga needs to help cleanse its reputation as a money-grabbing casual publisher. I would hesitate to call it truly hardcore (I think the game needs about double the heroes and maybe another map or mode to really start comparing its depth to a standard PC MOBA), but it's definitely a "mid-core" experience that delivers a lot of fun. If you're a MOBA fan or just want to see what Zynga is doing right lately, give it a download and a try on iPhone or iPad.
E3 2013: Hands-on with Zynga's Solstice Arena MOBA
I wasn't sure what to expect from Solstice Arena when I walked into Zynga/A Bit Lucky's meeting room. I'd heard about the whole "speed MOBA" thing, but I love playing as Nasus in League of Legends, so having no mobs was a bit conflicting. The game's also only being released on the iPhone and iPad, and I use an Android smartphone and a tablet running on Windows 8. But I wasn't worried. Fredrick Descamps and Jordan Maynard, co-founders (and former Trion members) of A Bit Lucky , were on hand to share their vision, but truthfully, the hands-on time won me over.
Former OMGPOP employees speak out following closure
Immediately following its closure by Zynga, the scene in the OMGPOP office was not what you might expect. As anonymous ex-employees told Business Insider, the Draw Something studio was determined to enjoy its final day. That meant booze, loud music, and defacing Zynga paraphernalia. "Most layoffs are sad," one former employee told Business Insider. "You imagine big corporate settings where security is there to lead people out of the office so they don't make a scene. This was the opposite. Music was being played loudly and people were ripping up Zynga hoodies and t-shirts. Anything that was Zynga was completely left there. The sentiment felt positive." That's not to say there wasn't bitterness beyond the ripped clothes. Former VP of Outreach Ali Nicolas took to Twitter to chastise Zynga for its "idiotic execution" and reminding her "how not to operate a business." Like Nicolas, some employees expressed their ire to Business Insider. One employee said OMGPOP was "totally under-utilized," while another felt no-one other than Zynga CEO Mark Pincus was "really happy" about the studio being part of the company. OMGPOP was one of three studios understood to be closed as Zynga laid off 18 percent of its staff this week. Zynga acquired OMGPOP for a reported $200 million in March 2012 following the New York-based studio's phenomenal success with social doodling app Draw Something. However, the acquisition wasn't able to survive Zynga's continuing struggles, despite OMGPOP releasing Draw Something 2 only two months ago.
Zynga closes OMGPOP, the creators of Draw Something
Zynga announced yesterday that it was laying off about 18 percent of its work staff, or about 520 employees, which is bad news for any company. But it turns out that this set of folks includes most of the crew of OMGPOP, the company Zynga acquired for its uber-popular app Draw Something last year. It was only last March that Zynga picked up OMGPOP for $200 million after Draw Something became a big hit, and while the app did both grow and spawn a sequel under Zynga's oversight, OMGPOP's CEO Dan Porter left the company just a few months ago, and now most of the original staff is out of a job. Or at least on to the next one -- one former Zynga staffer says to TechCrunch that most of the team members "had new jobs lined up by the time they left the building anyway." It's true that the OMGPOP acquisition was extremely public, and while Draw Something was always popular, it wasn't hard to see that the audience lost a lot of engagement after that initial acquisition. I don't think this is the death knell for Zynga just yet -- the company has been cutting titles, but still has successful games running, and it's working on more to come. But this is definitely a wakeup call that the once huge social and mobile juggernaut needs to do things a bit differently in the future.
Zynga layoffs impact OMGPOP, studio reportedly closed
Following Zynga's massive layoffs, it's emerged the company may have shuttered Draw Something studio OMGPOP. As SiliconBeat spotted, the studio noted via Twitter yesterday "was the last day at Zynga for many OMGPOP staff," and former VP of Outreach Ali Nicolas tweeted she'd been laid off and that the "OMGPOP office is closed." Meanwhile, former Senior Community Manager Joseph Alminawi said he and "most of the studio" were laid off, perhaps indicating some staffers were relocated. Zynga confirmed yesterday it's laying off 18 percent of its staff. The announcement came shortly after a report by AllThingsD noting closures at Zynga's Los Angeles, Dallas, and New York offices. OMGPOP, based in New York, looks to be one of the studios referred to. Today's news comes just over a year after Zynga acquired OMGPOP for a reported $200 million, and only a month or so after Draw Something 2 was released. Former OMGPOP CEO Dan Porter left Zynga back in April. As for Zynga itself, 2013 had already brought high-level departures, studio closures, and significant losses. We've reached out to Zynga for confirmation of studio closures.
Zynga lays off 18% of mobile and social staff
Zynga has announced it will be laying off 18 percent of their mobile and social staff, around 520 people. The company cites stabilizing finances for the mass firing. According to Zynga's official announcement laid off employees will be receiving severance packages. In their official statement, CEO Mark PIncus said: None of us ever expected to face a day like today, especially when so much of our culture has been about growth. But I think we all know this is necessary to move forward. The scale that served us so well in building and delivering the leading social gaming service on the Web is now making it hard to successfully lead across mobile and multiplatform, which is where social games are going to be played. According to CNN Money a Thomson Reuters report stated Zynga was expected to lose US$27.6 million dollars in the first quarter of 2013. However the company is now reportedly expecting a net loss somewhere between $28.5 and $39 million for the quarter. Zynga's stock fell 12 percent with the news. Zynga perviously cut 5 percent of its staff in October 2012.
Zynga to shutter New York and LA studios, cut 18% of workforce
Social game monolith Zynga plans to shutter its New York City, Dallas and Los Angeles game development studios. Sources at Zynga confirmed the closures to Engadget, and also confirmed reports of layoffs affecting 520 employees (around 18 percent of the company's total workforce), and now CEO Mark Pincus published his internal letter to employees on the company's website. Apparently the ousted employees will receive, "generous severance packages" for their time; we've published the full letter below the break. It's unknown how this will impact games and services from those offices, but it is said to cut $80 million from staff costs. The move is part of a larger restructuring at Zynga with a focus on mobile, which Pincus says will make, "mobile gaming truly social by offering people new, fun ways to meet, play and connect." The studio suffered similar closures late last year, which included Boston, UK, and Japan locations. Update: We've also added Zynga's official press release below.
Zynga closes LA, New York, Austin and Dallas studios
Zynga CEO Mark Pincus has just confirmed the company will let go of 18 percent of its work force. "None of us ever expected to face a day like today, especially when so much of our culture has been about growth," wrote Pincus on the company blog. "But I think we all know this is necessary to move forward. The scale that served us so well in building and delivering the leading social gaming service on the Web is now making it hard to successfully lead across mobile and multiplatform, which is where social games are going to be played." The confirmation comes a half hour after AllThingsD reported the 18 percent layoff number, which the site estimates at approximately 520 employees. Although Pincus doesn't mention studio closures, Zynga's New York, Los Angeles, Austin and Dallas studios are shutting down. The company has halted trading on the Nasdaq in wake of the news. We've followed up with Zynga for more information and confirmation of the studio closures. Zynga's bad news train is at full steam in 2013, with even more executive departures, financial losses, layoffs and closures. Update: Zynga would not confirm the studio closures, but has updated its financial outlook with a $28.5 million to $39 million loss for the second quarter. We've placed the full outlook update after the break.
Zynga releases Running With Friends, developed with Eat Sleep Play
Zynga has released a new game in the 'With Friends' series (which started back when the company acquired Words with Friends, a very popular Scrabble-like iOS game). Running With Friends is, as you can see above, not a fitness app, though that does sound fun. Instead, it's an endless running game, based on the Running of the Bulls, where you compete with friends to earn points and distance. The game has you running, jumping and dodging obstacles, all while trying to earn as many points as possible. As you might expect, the title is freemium, so it's free to download, and there are in-app purchases available if you'd like extra currency. Most of the games in the "With Friends" series have been super casual so far (mostly word games and simple social titles), so it's interesting to see that Zynga is upping the ante on the gameplay just a bit. Plus, this title is developed by was developed in collaboration with (see update) Eat Sleep Play, a company founded by David Jaffe that previously worked on the Twisted Metal games. "With Friends" hasn't seen a lot of action lately (though it's still a fairly big brand for Zynga), so this may be an attempt to revitalize the offerings. Update: Zynga got in touch to point out that the game wasn't developed by Eat Sleep Play directly, but that company did collaborate on some of the gameplay elements. So there's that.
Zynga announces Solstice Arena, a social MOBA coming to mobile
Back at GDC earlier this year, I was invited to what I was told was a very limited meeting with Zynga. The company, which of course made its name with social Facebook games and recently has been trying to pivot to mobile platforms like the iPhone and the iPad. Most of Zynga's games tend towards the casual (simply because Farmville is the company's biggest hit, and that's where their success lies). But at GDC, they wanted to show me something different. It was a "midcore" game, they said -- a game that had the complexity of a hardcore title, but was accessible enough for iOS' large audience to enjoy and rally around. The game was being put together by a developer named A Bit Lucky, which had already built out a few social titles already, and it was going to be a "multiplayer online battle arena" title -- a MOBA game, very similar to the extremely popular League of Legends. The game they showed me was Solstice Arena, which has just been officially announced by Zynga. Now, the MOBA genre is a tough one to pull off on mobile -- it's traditionally a very PC-centric genre, originally based on real-time strategy, with lots of mouse-specific controls and keys to press. But the MOBA genre has been attempted on iOS before, so it's definitely not impossible to pull off. Zynga's real innovation on Solstice Arena is going to be the game's format: Instead of the traditional five players vs. five players, the team has boiled the game down into 3v3, all fighting on what's essentially one lane. There are still towers to take down and various heroes to fight with, but having just three people on a side means the game is more concentrated, and individual players can make more of a difference. The other big change from traditional MOBA is that Solstice Arena's main mode is timed, so matches are less about the long, dragged out battles than they are about quicker skirmishes. This fits the mobile platform as well: quicker matches are more doable on portable platforms, obviously. While it is a much more complicated game than a lot of Zynga's other offerings, Solstice Arena still makes use of social and freemium elements for sure. In addition to online matchmaking (for both skill and team setup, promises A Bit Lucky), there will be social hooks in the game, and the title will have a metagame in the form of items that can be leveled up outside of matches. There will be an in-app currency, and it'll be used to purchase heroes, buy boosts, and other outside of game elements. Obviously, the developers don't want the game to simply be pay-to-win, but this is Zynga we're talking about. While not everything is figured out just yet, it's not a stretch to predict there will definitely be no shortage of places in the app to spend real money if that's what you choose to do. Still, even in this early stage, Solstice Arena looks like fun. Lots of the abilities are fairly simple -- they're designed to work on a touchscreen, so many of them target an area or a direction rather than a specific target. But there is a nice mix of hero classes, from casters to support, fighters, and assassins. And there are some fun mechanics being developed as well -- acing the other team by killing all of your opponents at the same time is called a "Power Play" and gives your team a temporary boost in power. There are also plenty of items to pick up around the game's field, which confer various individual or team bonuses as they go. Solstice Arena is due out for mobile platforms soon -- Zynga will run a beta first, probably in a market like Canada or New Zealand, and then bring the game out to more App Stores worldwide after that. A Bit Lucky also tells us that soon after that they're hoping to have the game running on both Mac and PC as well, depending of course on the game's reception and what kind of audience the title eventually finds. Solstice Arena is a fairly gutsy move for Zynga -- it's definitely more complicated than what most people expect from the company, and given the success of League of Legends and Dota, Zynga's going after a very specific audience that might not have played their titles before. We'll keep an eye on Solstice Arena as development moves along, and let you know when it's finally available to try for yourself.
Zynga teaser trailer introduces new mobile MOBA called Solstice Arena
Last fall, Zynga acquired the small mid-core, multi-platform game developer A Bit Lucky with the aim of expanding into that market. Today, the fruit of that team's labors is unveiled: Zynga announced the new 3v3 free-to-play MOBA Solstice Arena. Solstice Arena, which is playable on mobile devices, breaks away from the tethers of the PC and hopes to introduce new players to the MOBA genre. The game offers fast matches that average only 10 minutes and three game modes to make it fun for new and experienced players alike (solo vs. A.I., co-op vs. A.I. and player vs. player) and . Heroes will earn experience as they play and have the option to progress along one of three ability upgrade paths, unlocking various ability upgrades. Solstice Arena also offers customization via skins and armor. Want to catch your first glimpse of the game? Check out the trailer after the cut. [Source: Zynga press release]
Zynga inks distribution deal with Game of Thrones Ascent developer Disruptor Beam
Zynga announced that it has established a partnership with Boston-based social game developer Disruptor Beam to bring the studio's popular Facebook game Game of Thrones Ascent to its player base at Zynga.com. Since its open beta launch in February, Game of Thrones Ascent has attracted more than 500,000 players to its strategy-focused take on the world of Westeros. As part of the agreement, Zynga will handle distribution of the game on Facebook and its own web portal, and will work closely with Disruptor Beam through its Zynga Partners program. Starting with HBO's third season of Game of Thrones, additional Ascent content will be released after each new episode airs, resulting in what Disruptor Beam CEO Jon Radoff calls "a unique transmedia experience that is not currently seen in any other social game."
Draw Something 2 available with new words, drawing tools
Zynga's Draw Something, the incredibly popular drawing game for iPhone, now has a follow-up: Draw Something 2. It's available now on the US App Store as an ad-supported free download or premium, ad-free version at US$1.99. It was just in February that Zynga VP and General Manager, Dan Porter, said there were some exciting things in the pipeline for Draw Something, and we now know what he was talking about. Draw Something 2 has many new additions and features, including 5,000 new words, more drawing tools and over a hundred colors, plus a social feed and "Galaxy," where users can store their favorite drawings. Draw Something was originally developed by OMGPOP. It became hugely successful within a very short time and was soon acquired by Zynga. It eventually leveled off in popularity, but we're sure Zynga is hoping to re-ignite its popularity with Draw Something 2. [Via The Verge]
Zynga sees revenues and users decline in Q1, Draw Something 2 out today
Social game publisher Zynga has revealed financial results for the first quarter of 2013. The company posted revenue of $263.5 million, a significant decline from the $320.9 million posted during the first quarter last year. Zynga saw its user numbers decline as well. Daily active, monthly active and monthly unique users fell across the board. Despite these losses, Zynga recorded a net income of $4.1 million, as compared to a $85.3 million loss during the same period last year. The company identified FarmVille 2 as "a breakout hit with daily audience engagement and bookings exceeding the company's expectations." For the second quarter, the publisher is predicting a net loss of $36.5 million to $26.5 million. Zynga posted a huge loss of over $200 million for 2012, and today's results follow a string of rocky news for the company, including high-profile departures, game shutdowns and multiple studio closures or consolidations. Earlier this year, J.P. Morgan sold the majority of its stock in the company. At the very least, Zynga is looking to keep its current stable of executives on board with the promise of larger salaries. Alongside its financials, Zynga announced that Draw Something 2 is launching today. Dan Porter, former CEO of Draw Something studio OMGPOP, left Zynga earlier this month.
Draw Something becomes a game show in UK
The plans to adapt Draw Something, the app you probably still have on your phone from last year, into a primetime game show don't seem to have amounted to anything in the US, but a UK version is on the way.Channel 4's "Draw It!" pits two teams of one contestant and one celebrity together to ... wait, it's not even called Draw Something? Victory Television made a deal with Zynga for the rights to the app, which is very popular, and then adapt it into a TV game show, and they don't even use the name of the app?Without the name tie-in, this show is literally just Win, Lose, or Draw.
