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Zynga unveils Battlestone, an action RPG coming to iOS soon
Zynga's been on an interesting pivot lately. The company made a name for itself on Facebook, and most of its business is tied up in big games like Farmville and its sequel. But that audience is slowing down in growth, if not declining, which has prompted Zynga to experiment on mobile platforms like iOS. Last year, Zynga published Horn, which is a very impressive action / adventure title on iOS, and this year I expect to see more games like it as Zynga targets the "midcore" audience with nice graphics and complex gameplay. Battlestone is a great example of that. It's a newly revealed game from the House that Farmville Built, and as you can see above, it looks very impressive. It's an action RPG in the vein of Diablo, but made for mobile platforms, and with a slightly more casual look. Battlestone will let you pull one hero from multiple choices to fight through varied 3D environments, swiping and tapping across the screen to get involved in combat. It definitely sounds fun -- Battlestone should be available in the US soon, as it's already being tested in a few markets around the world. Zynga's real challenge with these will be to balance "midcore" gameplay with its preferred freemium promotional practices. The company grew very quickly thanks to its "social" gameplay, but as it has grown bigger and bigger, Zynga's depended more and more on desperately trying to make its games viral. If they can tone that down in these more complicated titles in a way that still allows them to keep things profitable, the company will be able to find a whole new audience to replace the one that's getting more and more bored with all of the "cow clicking" that Zynga originally started out with.
Zynga aims to keep execs with bigger salaries, bonuses
Zynga will implement new executive pay schemes in 2013, effectively doubling the salaries of many key executives. Bonuses will now be tied to performance, increasing maximum payout potential for the top brass.In addition to this, Zynga co-founder and head honcho Mark Pincus has lowered his annual salary to $1, Inside Social Games reports. Pincus, we should note, is also ineligible for these new executive bonuses.It's been a rough year and change for Zynga, which posted massive losses in 2012. Zynga has bled key talent lately, the most recent being Dan Porter, CEO of Draw Something developer OMGPOP. His departure was preceded by game designer Brian Reynolds in January and CFO Dave Wehner back in November.
Zynga's real money casino games double down in UK
UK residents over the age of 18 can now gamble at Zynga's real-money destinations ZyngaPlusPoker and ZyngaPlusCasino. The games are powered by bwin.party, which Zynga calls "one of the largest and most reputable real money gaming operators worldwide." The company plans to bring its virtual casino to Facebook and mobile in the UK this year."Our long term vision is to offer our players the next generation of real money games on multiple platforms in regulated markets worldwide," wrote Zynga Chief Revenue Officer Barry Cottle on the company's blog. "This is just the beginning for us and we're looking forward to seeing what our UK players think about ZyngaPlusPoker and ZyngaPlusCasino, and creating the most valuable casino games and social experiences for them."ZyngaPlusPoker is an online poker room with multiple levels of tournament buy-ins. ZyngaPlusCasino features over 160 slots, including the FarmVille slot machine, along with blackjack, roulette, baccarat and video poker. Both versions share a single wallet. And, not as a joke, we're going to slide this Gamblers Anonymous link here just in case.
Daily iPhone App: Letter Rush puts a new spin on spelling games
Word games are probably my least favorite genre on the App Store at this point -- I think they're overused, and many companies these days are just kicking out half-baked spelling games in the hopes of reaching a large casual audience. But Letter Rush, put together by a former Zynga studio, is different enough that it's worth mentioning: It's a word game that will probably make you better at word games. Most word games give you a set of tiles and ask you to spell words with them, and Letter Rush does that as well. But this game also gives you the words to spell, as they move across the top of the screen towards the left. That makes it a much different game than usual -- it's more about learning to spot words than actually spell them. And it could even teach you to be better at word games, to look for ways to spell certain words that might not be readily apparent at first. The goal is to spell all the words on screen before they hit the left side, but you do have a few extra powerups helping you out. Occasionally, words will have blanks in them, and in that case, you can use any letter in that spot (though that sometimes backfires, as it appears the word still needs to be legit, so there may be only one letter that fits in that space). And sometimes you'll get a bomb letter tile, which, when used, will clear the entire board for you. The game is essentially endless, but when words reach the far side of the screen, it's game over. Letter Rush is an interesting take on the oft-visited word game genre, and it's different enough that it's worth a look even if you're bored of spelling games on the iPhone. Letter Rush is available as a free download right now.
Draw Something studio CEO leaves Zynga
It's been so long since we've mentioned a big-name Zynga departure, so here we go: Dan Porter, former CEO of Draw Something developer OMGPOP, which Zynga acquired a year ago for $200 million, has exited the company.USA Today reports Porter, who served as VP of Zynga's New York office, leaves as the studio continues work on Draw Something 2. The original Draw Something has enjoyed over 100 million downloads since launching last February.
Zynga's website removes Facebook login requirement
Zynga has redesigned its website, no longer requiring gamers to log into the site using the Facebook credentials.Once upon a time, Facebook and Zynga were the best of pals, with Zynga's titles driving engagement on the big blue social network and Facebook providing a steady stream of new users to play Zynga's offerings. Last year, however, Facebook and Zynga decided to start parting ways, and that's led us to this current situation, where Zynga is pushing its platform beyond the walls of the Facebook system.Not completely outside, however: Zynga players can still log into Facebook on Zynga.com if they like, and as you can see on the site, the Facebook logo and login box are still prominently displayed. But players are no longer forced to use that process to partake in Zynga's library of games.
Draw Something 2 is coming soon
No, that's not a threat; it's a fact. Just about a year after Zynga bought developer OMGPOP, CEO Dan Porter has confirmed on Twitter that a sequel to Draw Something is coming soon. Porter says the new version of the game will feature "new ways to draw and connect," and TV host Ryan Seacrest has been posting screenshots that reveal new paint swatches and a number of other additions and upgrades. Don't worry: There's also a price-tag button right on the top bar, so the app will undoubtedly feature lots of in-app purchase options. The original Draw Something (which was released on mobile platforms and Facebook) saw its daily users drop quickly after the Zynga acquisition, but OMGPOP recently announced the game has seen over 100 million downloads and 11 billion drawings in the year since release.
Civ 4 lead's consulting gig at Stardock followed Zynga layoffs, still deciding his future
Soren Johnson, lead designer of Civilization 4, has clarified his role at Stardock following company CEO Brad Wardell's announcement his studio had secured Johnson "at least for a while, to oversee the design of all our games."Johnson tells Joystiq that Zynga's decision to shutter its Baltimore studio last week left him jobless and he quickly jumped into a role as a consultant at the developer famous for its Galactic Civilization franchise."Brad Wardell and I wanted to work together for a while, so I immediately started a consulting job with Stardock to help them with their current projects," Johnson said in an email to Joystiq. " I am, however, still trying to decide what my next permanent position is going to be."Late last year Stardock launched Elemental: Fallen Enchantress, previously the studio released Rebellion, an expansion to the real-time strategy game Sins of a Solar Empire. Prior to his stint at Zynga, Johnson had worked at Maxis as part of the team that developed Spore.
RIFT producer Hanlin leaves Trion for Zynga
Former Trion producer Hal Hanlin is now Zynga producer Hal Hanlin. RiftScene.com reports that Hanlin leaves after four-and-a-half years with the MMO firm. "Nothing but love for Trion, but with the maturation of RIFT, there was no urgent demand for my specific skill set," Hanlin said. "This [Zynga] is a huge opportunity for me professionally, and I will be working closely with some good friends." [Thanks Jordan!]
Soren Johnson joins Stardock, 'at least for a while' [Update]
Soren Johnson, who you may remember as Civilization 4's lead designer, has joined Stardock to oversee the design of the developer's entire line of upcoming titles."We've brought on board someone many of you know – Soren Johnson (designer of Civilization IV) who has come to Stardock, at least for awhile, to oversee the design of all our games," Stardock CEO Brad Wardell said on his company's official forums. "I think his impact on our upcoming (think 2014/2015/2016) will be pretty obvious."Up until now, Johnson (not pictured above) had maintained his post at Zynga as design director, after joining the company in September of 2011. Prior to that, Johnson spent over four years as a lead designer and programmer at Electronic Arts, working on such games as Spore. We've reached out to Stardock for more information about Johnson's role in the company, and what the temporary qualifier in the announcement may signify, if anything.Update: A Stardock representative has clarified to Joystiq that Soren Johnson is only working as a consultant at the developer, and is not on staff. Joystiq has contacted Johnson for clarification on his position at Zynga.
Ex-Zynga Boston team starts new iOS studio
Zynga closed its Boston studio late last year, and some of its former developers have created a new company called Proletariat Inc. The group is set to release its first iPhone game next week, called Letter Rush. The folks at Proletariat, Inc. aren't new to the startup game. They were originally called Conduit Labs, which Zynga acquired in 2010. We can only assume that their return to independence helped the group kick out a new title so quickly. Letter Rush is described as "an innovative arcade-spin on the classic word-find mechanic." We'll look for it on the App Store in a few days. It'll be interesting to see what this group has been up to after going through the Zynga machine. Show full PR text Ex-Zynga Boston Team Starts New Studio Team Behind Adventure World Due to Release First Title Cambridge, MA---February 26, 2013---Proletariat Inc., the new game development studio formed by the original founding group behind Zynga Boston, have officially announced today that they are open for business, and have revealed plans for an upcoming iOS title release. After Zynga unexpectedly closed their Cambridge office in October 2012, five senior members of the Zynga Boston team, creators of 2011's acclaimed Indiana Jones Adventure World, decided to found Proletariat Inc. This was not new territory for most of them, since they were originally part of Conduit Labs, the startup game shop founded in 2007 to develop music-oriented games for the Web, and subsequently acquired by Zynga in 2010. Working with the social publishing giant led to a collaboration between Lucasfilm and Zynga Boston, with the incorporation of the licensed Indiana Jones character into the game play, and the branded re-naming of the game. Indiana Jones Adventure World went on to receive recognition as a highly popular, challenging puzzle adventure game on Facebook, and is widely considered to be one of Zynga's more ambitious development efforts. Proletariat expects to expand on that tradition by creating superior quality game products with a high level of entertainment value, made by a top-tier production team. The founding team is made up of game industry veterans who have worked on everything from Guitar Hero to Lord of the Rings Online. "We have all known each other and worked with one another for so long that we've developed an organic way of making games together," says CEO Seth Sivak. "We all want to make successful games, both creatively and as a business. This team has been on both sides and knows how to find that balance." Sivak adds, "Building games is all about navigating the chaotic process of discovering 'The Fun' and then performing a disciplined march to a polished, final product. That process is important to us." The goal, as stated by Sivak is "to keep teams small and let highly skilled groups of creative people innovate." The team is nearly ready to launch their first game for iOS, Letter Rush. Letter Rush, the first game released by Proletariat Inc., will be available for iPhone and iPad next week. The game provides an innovative arcade-spin on the classic word-find mechanic. Players can play by themselves or together over local multiplayer to complete goals and compete with their friends on leaderboards. Proletariat is already hard at work on their next game, going after a larger challenge in the core tablet market.
Proletariat Inc. rises up from Zynga Boston shutdown
Proletariat Inc. is a new Beantown-based studio formed out of the closure of Zynga Boston. The team of five is currently finishing up an arcade-style word-find game, Letter Rush for iOS, which should be out by next week."We have all known each other and worked with one another for so long that we've developed an organic way of making games together," said CEO Seth Sivak. Prior to Zynga Boston, members of the team had worked at Harmonix, Turbine and Insomniac. "We all want to make successful games, both creatively and as a business. This team has been on both sides and knows how to find that balance."The team of five had worked on Indiana Jones Adventure World for Zynga, but were originally part of Conduit Labs, which was acquired by Zynga in 2010. The social media giant is currently picking itself up from the storm drain following a multi-year bender.
Zynga East shuttered, studios in Texas and New York consolidated
Zynga shut down its Baltimore studio, Zynga East, and planned to combine studios in Texas and New York, putting roughly 30 people out of work today. Zynga will consolidate its two studios in Austin, Texas, and relocate the studio in McKinney, Texas, to Dallas. Zynga's New York City offices will merge, transferring staff to the area's mobile studio."In an effort to leverage resources as we focus on creating franchises and driving profitability, Zynga has made changes to four of our US offices," Zynga COO David Ko told Joystiq. He concluded: "While these decisions are always difficult, these steps will affect approximately 1 percent of our workforce and enable us to focus our resources on the most significant growth opportunities."Zynga lost chief game designer and head of Zynga East Brian Reynolds in January, and shut down CityVille 2 development. This continues a trend of financial problems, game closures and executive departures at Zynga.
Draw Something crests 100 million downloads after one year
After launching last February, Draw Something has penciled in 100 million downloads, Zynga has announced. The publisher released an infographic to celebrate the news, revealing some interesting facts about the game. Over the last year, 11 billion drawings have been made, with players spending over 28,000 combined years with the game. Furthermore, 22 million pizzas have been drawn, beating out the 11 million drawings of Lady Gaga.This goes a long way toward confirming our long-held theory that pizza is precisely two times better than Lady Gaga.
Draw Something turns one under Zynga's banner, celebrates 100 million downloads
It's hard to believe that it's only been one year since Draw Something debuted on the App Store. Few apps have run the full cycle of popularity faster than Draw Something, which started as a huge word-of-mouth release before being acquired by Zynga. A year later, many iOS gamers have Draw Something in their rearview mirrors, but the executive in charge of the game says it's not over yet. Dan Porter is the CEO behind Draw Something's original developer. He now serves as a VP and General Manager at Zynga. Porter recently spoke with Mashable about what's going on with the game these days. Even though Draw Something has fallen out of the public eye, Porter notes, the game continues to be very popular with more than 11 billion drawings created, and more than 28,000 years of game play contributed by players. Traffic has leveled off, admits Porter, but the game still has a sizable amount of daily active users and has topped 100 million downloads. So how can Draw Something regain the limelight it once enjoyed? Porter didn't share Zynga's plans, but he says there are some surprises in the pipeline, while name-dropping both Coca-Cola and kryptonite. So, more branding deals and corporate partnerships, I'd guess. Here's an interesting thought experiment: If you were running Draw Something, how would you get it back to its initial popularity? If it were me, I'd slim the app back down. The Zynga purchase has added all sorts of crufty nonsense to the experience and the initial popularity was based on just how simple and fun the original game was. At the same time, though, I'd also build out the metagame a little bit. The core back-and-forth drawing game should stay simple, but I'd add some progression elements like goals and achievements to keep veteran players interested. Finally, I'd rebrand it as a newer, better version ("Draw Something Else," maybe?), just because I think the original Draw Something brand was hurt so much by the Zynga acquisition. But we'll have to see what Porter and his team have planned. He says that despite the well-publicized transition, they're still all together and hard at work on improving the game.
EA and Zynga settle The Ville lawsuits
Electronic Arts and Zynga have settled their legal kerfuffle, which began when the former sued the social games giant for what it called a "clear violation" of copyright laws over similarities between games. Details on the settlement are lacking, but InsideSocialGames has a statement from Zynga that it has resolved its respective claims with EA and "reached a settlement" in the Northern District of California.The legal drama kicked off last August when EA sued Zynga over the similarities between Zynga's recently released The Ville and EA's The Sims Social. The evidence against Zynga was stacked pretty high. This was the first time a giant like EA had stepped into the ring to take on the culture of cloning, which Zynga had been accused of in the past.A month later, Zynga filed a counterclaim against EA over the similarities between CityVille and SimCity Social. We'll update with settlement terms when he receive them.
Brett Ratner buddies up with Zynga on Farmville animated series
If you think the the absence of Brett Ratner is the only thing holding Farmville back from becoming a truly exciting cross-platform brand, then you're probably Brett Ratner. The brash bad boy director of Rush Hour fame is adapting Zynga's game for television. Ratner will serve as executive producer on the half-hour animated series, aided by Canadian television production firm Six Eleven Media."FarmVille is one of the most exciting brands out there today and its cross-platform opportunities are endless," Ratner said in a statement to the Wall Street Journal. "I am thrilled to be expanding the brand with existing fans and also engaging a whole new audience." Zynga is no stranger to cross-promotion, having already struck up a deal with Hasbro to produce a line of board games based on its properties last year, one of which was – you guessed it – Farmville. Zynga also just reported a $209.4 million loss for 2012, subsequently shutting down three of its games, including CityVille 2.
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 posts $209.4 million loss for 2012
Though 2012 was a rough year Zynga – with the company seeing studio closures, layoffs and departures – the casual game developer and publisher fared better financially than it did in 2011. Zynga ended 2011 in the red to the tune of $404.3 million, while the company has posted a net loss of just $209.4 million in 2012. Year-end revenues stacked up at $1.28 billion; a 12 percent increase over 2011.The difference between Zynga's overall Q4 revenue in 2012 and 2011 is negligible: $311.1 million as compared with $311.2 million, respectively. Online game revenues were down by three percent year-over-year, while advertising revenue was up by 35 percent, cresting $36 million. Year-over-year net losses are dramatically different, however, with Q4 2012's loss of $48.5 million an 88 percent decrease from the $435 million loss posted in Q4 of 2011.Looking forward, Zynga anticipates a net loss for Q1 2013, somewhere in the ballpark of $12 million to $32 million.
Rise and Shiny: Dawn of the Dragons
There's no way for me to describe Dawn of the Dragons without it sounding a bit like the old Mafia Wars-style games that were so massively popular on Facebook years ago. The truth is that, yes, games designed around clicking a button a few times or even several hundred times (depending on your tolerance) sound like they cast some sort of spell on the playerbase. Surely these people cannot behaving any sort of fun and instead are trained animals, responding only to the bit of food that drops out of the chute. I'm the first one to admit that much of the gameplay in a game like Dawn of the Dragons by 5th Planet Games pays out the most to those who hit the buttons the most. But I'm also the first to defend the design and to say that it can be a lot of fun. Let's not pretend that even the most immersive, realistic, epic MMO in the world cannot be turned into a series of button-smashings. We've all known a player in almost any game who has reduced her electronic adventures down to an efficient science. Does a game like Dawn of the Dragons just do away with all of the mumbo-jumbo to get to the meat of the gameplay: the button mashing?
