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Brian Reynolds departs Zynga
Game designer Brian Reynolds has left Zynga. Lead designer on games such as Firaxis Games' Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri and Big Huge Games' Rise of Nations, Reynolds was brought on at Zynga to be chief designer. During his three and a half years at Zynga he's credited as chief game designer on FrontierVille."Brian Reynolds has decided to move on and pursue other opportunities," an email sent to Zynga employees this afternoon reads.Reynolds joined Zynga in 2009. His departure is the latest bad milestone consisting of financial issues, games closures and executive departures at the company.Update: Zynga has released an official statement confirming the departure."Brian has a long history in the game industry and has been a great partner to the creative leaders at Zynga. I want to thank him for his leadership of the Zynga Baltimore studio in the design and development of FrontierVille, which brought many innovations to social gaming," said Zynga President of Games Steve Chiang. "We appreciate Brian's contribution and we're proud of the deep bench of creative leaders who are leading the next wave of game innovation at Zynga. We wish Brian the best in his next chapter."
J.P. Morgan reduces Zynga ownership to less than one percent
Multinational banking conglom-o J.P. Morgan has reduced the amount of Zynga stock in its possession from 6.7 million shares to 2.6 million, All Things D reports. This represents a shift in its ownership of the developer/publisher from 6.7 percent to less than half of one percent, with the whole of its Zynga stock currently worth $6.73 million, based on Friday's closing value of $2.59 per share.When J.P. Morgan actually sold 4.1 million of its shares is unclear, as the last official announcement regarding the scope of its investment in Zynga was released in January of last year. By extension, the price that J.P. Morgan received per share is also unknown.In just the last few months, Zynga has shut down 11 games and closed studios in Japan and Boston, among other various events that haven't boded especially well for the value of its stock. J.P. Morgan's reduced ownership isn't a particularly strong vote of confidence either, though trading was up last week due to Zynga's hawkish acquisition of online gambling patents.
Zynga shutting down 11 games
As part of ongoing efforts to cut costs and get back on track, Zynga is pulling the plug on 11 of its games, reports TechCrunch. The site reports that these games have all either been pulled from their respective app stores, shut down or are no longer accepting new players. Notable games being sent to the glue factoryville include Mafia Wars 2, PetVille and Indiana Jones Adventure World.Among these games are also most of those operated by Zynga Japan, including Machitsuku, Mojitomo and Montopia. Zynga announced the studio's closure last month.
Zynga shuts down 11 apps, including PetVille and Mafia Wars 2
Zynga has announced that it's closing 11 different games and apps, presumably just because they've failed to live up to the publisher's expectations. Perhaps the most popular app of the bunch is Petville, which at one point announced that it had over a million users. But there are a few other big titles in the 11 as well: Mafia Wars 2, FishVille, Treasure Isle and Vampire Wars are all getting shut down as well. The company's CEO says this is all part of a standard restructuring, and it makes sense that Zynga, which has grown by leaps and bounds over the past few years, would want to emphasize its strengths and minimize its weaker titles. But this is also a sign that the Zynga brand isn't invincible, and that clearly, the company needs hits to keep itself moving. 2013 may be a rocky year for Zynga, if it can't replicate the success it's seen in the past with FarmVille and the other games it's acquired, like Draw Something and Words with Friends.
Zynga Japan closing
As was originally suggested by Zynga CEO Mark Pincus back in October, Zynga Japan will be closing its doors as part of a company wide "Cost Reduction Plan" this January. The decision was made official by an announcement on Zynga Japan CEO Kenji Matsubara's Facebook profile, where he thanked users for playing his company's games. Three of Zynga Japan's games have already been discontinued: City builder Machitsuku, Scrabble clone Mojitomo and monster training RPG Montopia. Zynga Japan's mobile card battling game Ayakashi (available in the US as Ayakashi: Ghost Guild) will continue to operate beyond the developer's official closure at the end of January, 2013.Other branches affected by the Cost Reduction Plan include Zynga Austin, which suffered a significant reduction in staff, along with Zynga Boston, which was closed entirely.
Horn goes on a free quest on iOS today
A free version of Phosphor Games' pretty 3D action-adventure mobile game Horn is available on iOS today. Horn Free focuses on the "Prologue" section of Horn proper, allowing players to face an endless series of Titans in the new Quest mode and unlock new sets of customizable weapons and armor.The premium version of Horn pretty much gets all the new stuff found in Horn Free: Quest mode, available as under the Challenges section for instant boss fight gratification, and new loot. This latest update also optimizes both versions of Horn for play on iPad Minis and the new iPad. We've followed up for info on whether this new content is in the Android version.
New agreement lets Facebook and Zynga play the field, still shack up
It wasn't so long ago that Facebook and Zynga were making beautiful music (and money) together, but it seems that each is now looking for a bit of fresh air in the relationship, according to Reuters. A new agreement will give Zynga more freedom to offer games on its own website, while also allowing Facebook to develop its own -- though for now, the social network said it "was not in the business of building games and we have no plans to do so." For its part, Zynga now has the option of opting out of Facebook's payment mechanism and display ads, according to a recent filing by the Farmville maker. Both companies have seen their share of foibles, lately, but Facebook would perhaps be wise to not let its main dance partner too far out of sight -- Zynga still kicks in more than 15 percent of the now-public company's revenue.
Facebook and Zynga agree to new terms, create potential for official Facebook games
Facebook and Zynga have worked out a new set of terms in their partnership, enabling both parties to make and promote their own games. Before the alteration, Zynga was required to use Facebook's monetization platform, and Facebook couldn't create its own titles to compete with Zynga's. The latest agreement undoes both stipulations and opens up both sides for more independence.At this time, neither side has announced that it wants to change the way things work, so Zynga will likely still use Facebook's payments system, and Facebook hasn't announced plans to make any official games. A spokesperson for Facebook reiterated that "we will continue to work with Zynga, just as we do with developers of all sizes." It's not a break-up, in other words, but they are free to see other people.
Zynga's holiday charity drive turns in-app purchases into Toys for Tots
Zynga's charity campaign "Oh, What Fun!" runs today through December 31, with 100 percent of select, holiday-themed in-app purchases in seven games directly benefiting Toys for Tots.Participating games are CityVille, CastleVille, Words With Friends, Pioneer Trail, Bubble Safari, Draw Something and FarmVille, each with specific items to purchase for the charity, such as FarmVille's cheer-ewe-up horse for $1. As always, we're happy to see Zynga isn't sheepish about using puns. We're laughing so hard, there's a cramp in our calf. Sorry, we're really milking this one.Some of the items have time limits within the charity drive, with FarmVille's ending on December 5 and Pioneer Trail's not beginning until December 17. Check out the full list of games, items and timeframes after the break.
Zynga CFO quits for senior finance job at Facebook, more changes
Zynga's Chief Financial Officer Dave Wehner has resigned to take a senior finance position at Facebook, causing a wave of corporate changes at Zynga. The most notable shift places Mark Vranesh, the former CFO who was demoted when Wehner joined Zynga in 2010, back into his previous role alongside his current position as chief accounting officer.Former Chief Mobile Officer David Ko is now chief operations officer. The COO position has been vacant since August 2012, when John Schappert resigned. Barry Cottle, former executive vice president of business and corporate development, is now chief revenue officer, and Steven Chiang, previous executive vice president of games, is now president of games.In an internal memo, Zynga CEO Mark Pincus wished Wehner the best of luck."These changes come at an important time," Pincus wrote. "We are positioning ourselves for long-term growth and I'm confident that we have the breadth and depth of management talent to deliver on our mission of connecting the world through games. We are also today reaffirming our 2012 financial outlook that we communicated on October 24, 2012."This corporate shake-up follows a larger rumble in October that saw Zynga lay-off five percent of its full-time workforce, including closing its Boston Studio, significantly reducing staff in Austin, retiring 13 games, reducing investment in The Ville and considering closures in Japan and the UK. Zynga reported a loss of $52.7 million in Q3 2012, compared with a profit of $12.5 million in Q3 2011.
Wizards of the Coast sued over 'Electronic Trading Card' patent infringement
Wizards of the Coast is being sued by Texas-based Wildcat Intellectual Property Holdings over an alleged patent infringement. Courthouse News reports Wildcat believes Wizards of the Coast's 2002 game Magic: The Gathering Online infringes upon the former's 'Electronic Trading Card' patent, and is seeking an injunction to prohibit the transgression.The patent in question, US Patent No 6200216, was filed by Wildcat on March 6 1995 and issued on March 13 2001. It describes. among other components, "taking the traditional trading card metaphor and uniquely updating and enhancing it for application in consumer digital media." Wildcat claims the patent applies to its game 'Unit Commander' which it calls "the ultimate mercenary trading card game."Wildcat's allegations seem to date back to a lawsuit filed last year against Wizards of the Coast and 11 other companies, including Nintendo, EA, Sony Computer Entertainment America, Sony Online Entertainment, Konami, and Zynga. The complaint pertains to the same patent infringement Wildcat is presently suing Wizards of the Coast over.According to The Cardboard Connection, as of August 2 of this year Chaotic USA and Nintendo were dismissed without prejudice, leaving both open to being sued by Wildcat again separately. It's unclear if Wildcat's present case against Wizards of the Coast is a retooling of the previous one following a similar dismissal.
Zynga's online gambling initiative to launch in the UK next year
Zynga CEO Mark Pincus is making good on his promise to expand the social/mobile developer's grasp into the world of online gambling in the first half of 2013, according to Gamasutra. As expected, the roll-out will take place in Not America -- the United Kingdom, specifically.Facilitating this expansion is bwin.party Digital Entertainment, an existing online gambling operator that has partnered with Zynga to aid in its transition from fake addictions to the real deal. Zynga's first title in this new space will be a slots simulator based on the Farmville franchise, which may explain why the Zynga Slots team was the only one to survive this week's layoffs at Zynga Austin.
Zynga posts loss of $52.7 million in Q3
Zynga has released its financial results for the third quarter of 2012, and while business-wide revenue is up year-over-year – $316 million vs. $306 million over the same period in 2011 – net income has fallen by a significant margin. Specifically, the social-gaming developer has reported a loss of $52.7 million over the course of Q3 2012, as compared with the $12.5 million in profit it experienced during Q3 2011.The picture is much the same for the company's year-to-date financial situation, which places total revenue for 2012 at $970.1 million (well above 2011's $828.8 million), but still reports an overall loss of $160.8 million. By this time last year, Zynga was in the black to the tune of $30.6 million dollars.The statement also makes mention of yesterday's events, with the closure of Zynga Boston and significant reduction of staff at Zynga Austin, both of which were part of a grander Cost Reduction Plan: "Zynga expects to complete a reduction in force of approximately 150 employees or approximately 5 percent of its current workforce, and implement additional cost reduction measures, including steps to rationalize its product pipeline, reduce marketing and technology expenditures and consolidate certain facilities."It's worth noting that the "150 employees" referenced are full-time employees, and any contract/part-time workers terminated under the Cost Reduction Plan will not be counted towards that total.
Zynga CEO Mark Pincus: Boston closing, Austin reducing, 5% of full-time staff laid off
Zynga is laying off 5 percent of its full-time workforce, closing its Boston studio and significantly reducing staff at its Austin studio, CEO and founder Mark Pincus writes in a letter to employees. Zynga is proposing closures of its Japan and UK studios, retiring 13 older games and "significantly reducing" its investment in The Ville."In addition to these studios, we are also making a small number of partner team reductions," Pincus writes. "In all, we will unfortunately be parting ways with approximately 5 percent of our full time workforce. We don't take these decisions lightly as we recognize the impact to our colleagues and friends who have been on this journey with us. We appreciate their amazing contributions and will miss them."As part of a larger restructuing, Zynga is cutting "spending on data hosting, advertising and outside services, primarily contractors." Pincus says these measures will "improve profitability" and allow the company to "reinvest in great games."Pincus will host a webcast tomorrow, following its earnings report. There is no word of the Zynga Chicago studio losing staff, as was rumored earlier today. Read Pincus' full letter below.
Zynga shutters Boston, UK and Japan studios, lays off 5% of full-time staff
While Apple was busy introducing new devices and updating its existing ones this morning, Facebook game creator Zynga was apparently relieving itself of several studios worth of employees. Several reports on Twitter indicate that Zynga is cutting its Boston, Austin, and Chicago studios; our colleagues at Joystiq spoke with a Zynga Austin employee who confirmed at least two of his location's teams were let go (The Ville and Zynga Bingo teams). Further reports on The Verge indicate that "more than 100" employees were let go as a result of the Austin layoffs. TechCrunch is reporting the full shut down of Zynga's Boston studio, which was apparently working on an unannounced title before being closed. The company's San Francisco location -- its headquarters -- has yet to be affected, nor have employees heard anything from upper management. Notoriously, Austin-developed The Ville is the root of an ongoing lawsuit between game publishing giant Electronic Arts, wherein EA alleges The Ville too closely resembles its own Facebook game, The Sims Social. Beyond the lawsuit, Zynga's faced declining stock value since its IPO, and the $200 million purchase of Draw Something developer OMGPOP remains a sticking point for investors. The company is slated to release its quarterly earnings tomorrow, which are expected to be down for another quarter. We reached out to the company for comment, but have yet to hear back as of publishing. Update: Zynga confirmed layoffs at its Austin studio, as well as outlining closures at its Boston, Japan, and UK locations. A full letter from CEO Mark Pincus to employees was released by Zynga detailing the layoffs and closures, which we've added below. The company also says it's closing 13 of its games, and "significantly reducing" its investment in The Ville.
Rumor: Zynga shedding staff in Boston, Austin, Chicago [Update: Letter from CEO]
Twitter is on fire with messages that Zynga offices in Boston, Austin and Chicago are closing down. We have contacted Zynga and its employees for clarification.An employee at Zynga Austin tells Joystiq, "So what I know as of now that The Ville and Bingo teams were cut. I don't know anything about Chicago at the moment." Zynga Austin is responsible for The Ville, Zynga Bingo and Slots, meaning this cut leaves just the Slots team. There are about 70 people left at Zynga Austin, the employee says.Zynga Boston General Manager Fareed Mosavat is tweeting out job offers in the city, writing, "The outpouring of support for us has been incredible. Love this Boston scene."Zynga Boston is behind Facebook game Adventure World, and comprises employees from Zynga's acquisition of Conduit Labs in 2010. In March 2011 it acquired Floodgate Entertainment, and by September 2011 Zynga Boston had 35 employees, some recruited from MMO developer Turbine.Update: Zynga CEO Mark Pincus sent out a letter to employees that confirms the closure of its Boston studio and a significant reduction at its Austin studio, resulting in a loss of 5 percent of its full-time employees, among other changes. Read the letter here.
MMO Blender: A real-time Farmville MMO minus the Zynga
Let's talk about FarmVille for a minute. Yes, I mean the Zynga-produced FarmVille, the one that helped social gaming become what it is today. There are a lot of things that have been said about the game, like "it's not even a game" or "it preys on gamer's addictive natures" and all sorts of sufficiently evil-sounding things. Say what you want about the evil monster that is Zynga and make all the jokes that you can about FarmVille and other social titles, but I want to tackle it from a different view. Let's look at it as the sandbox game that it is and use that example to invent a brand-new MMO, although I'm sure ours would not meet with even a fraction of the success that FarmVille has. FarmVille is arguably the most popular sandbox title in the world. We've defined "sandbox" a million times on this site, but it's easy to see just how open and flexible FarmVille is. Is it limited to the confines of its unique set of tools and designs? Of course, but so is every sandbox. FarmVille has successfully introduced the wonders of sandbox gaming to people who might never give a similarly described game a chance.
Zynga settles lawsuit with Kojobo, PyramidVille now PyramidValley
Way back in May, Zynga filed suit against French social/mobile developer Kojobo over its usage of the suffix "Ville" in its Facebook game PyramidVille, saying that it was confusing to consumers and that Kojobo's game could easily be mistaken as one of Zynga's 'Ville properties.Well as of today, the two developers have settled the matter out of court, with no money being exchanged in the process, according to Gamasutra. While neither party is talking specifics, the major extent of the settlement appears to be that Kojobo has renamed PyramidVille to PyramidValley and PyramidVille Adventure to PyramidValley Adventure.Originally, Zynga had sought damages totaling three times the amount of money Kojobo made from PyramidVille, whatever that figure may have been. Now, it looks as though Zynga is content with Kojobo's renaming of its properties, and Kojobo is content with not being sued into oblivion.
Zynga moving forward in lawsuit against former Cityville GM over theft
Zynga has earned the requisite crystals to move forward on its lawsuit against former CityVille general manager Alan Patmore, who it accuses of stealing company secrets for use at his new employer Kixeye. All Things D reports the social games company has been granted its request to depose Patmore, have forensic experts search his electronic devices and extend the restraining order preventing Patmore from destroying or deleting any information he obtained."Patmore does not dispute that he took 763 files from Zynga, which contained confidential game designs from teams around the company, and that he transferred those files to his computer at Kixeye where he's currently the VP of Product," Zynga attorney Jay Monahan said in a statement.All Things D also received a statement from Kixeye CEO Will Harbin, who obviously didn't feel like pulling any punches: "Zynga is burning to the ground and bleeding top talent and instead of trying to fix the problems - better work environment and better products - they are resorting to the only profit center that has ever really worked for them: their legal department."Zynga claims the files Patmore allegedly took would help someone replicate its business, along with projections and plans for 10 unreleased games. Harbin concluded his statement by asking why his company would want to emulate Zynga's business when The Ville publisher has seen a 75 percent decline in its stock since its debut?
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."
