Incline Massive Incline: "The News Isn’t Good for Zynga, Maker of FarmVille"

[DraQ]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...-collapse-reckons-social-gaming-was-overhyped

EA finds no joy in Zynga's collapse.

(...)

Some have revelled in the collapse of Zynga, which has been accused of cloning others' games and being creatively bankrupt. You'd expect EA, which is suing Zynga for allegedly copying The Sims Social, would be first in line to gloat. But it finds no joy in seeing its bitter rival fall to its knees.

That's because EA knows who's next.

 

[DragoFireheart]

*Zynga is dying*

This made me smile. And I just got a boner.

 

[Azalin]

http://arstechnica.com/business/201...percent-of-daily-active-users-in-one-quarter/

Even more bad news for Zynga,they lost 25% of their user base in a few months,they had a net loss of 15.8 mill in the second quarter and their stock plummeted 15%.

Don Mattrick must be so happy he was kicked out of left MS for this

 

[DraQ]

http://arstechnica.com/business/201...percent-of-daily-active-users-in-one-quarter/

Even more bad news for Zynga,they lost 25% of their user base in a few months,they had a net loss of 15.8 mill in the second quarter and their stock plummeted 15%.

Don Mattrick must be so happy he was kicked out of left MS for this

So he left Titanic by boarding Hindenburg?

 

[WhiskeyWolf]

http://arstechnica.com/business/201...percent-of-daily-active-users-in-one-quarter/

Even more bad news for Zynga,they lost 25% of their user base in a few months,they had a net loss of 15.8 mill in the second quarter and their stock plummeted 15%.

Don Mattrick must be so happy he was kicked out of left MS for this

So he left Titanic by boarding Hindenburg?

They are probably paying him a six digit salary every month, so I'm not too sure that is a right comparison. Besides, he has the ability to get off.

 

[Turjan]

Don Mattrick must be so happy he was kicked out of left MS for this

So he left Titanic by boarding Hindenburg?

He was called "The Undertaker"...

 

[Delterius]

http://arstechnica.com/business/201...percent-of-daily-active-users-in-one-quarter/

Even more bad news for Zynga,they lost 25% of their user base in a few months,they had a net loss of 15.8 mill in the second quarter and their stock plummeted 15%.

Don Mattrick must be so happy he was kicked out of left MS for this

So he left a sinking Titanic by boarding a burning Hindenburg?

Fix'd.

 

[Azalin]

http://arstechnica.com/business/201...percent-of-daily-active-users-in-one-quarter/

Even more bad news for Zynga,they lost 25% of their user base in a few months,they had a net loss of 15.8 mill in the second quarter and their stock plummeted 15%.

Don Mattrick must be so happy he was kicked out of left MS for this

So he left a sinking Titanic by boarding a burning Hindenburg?

Fix'd.

 

[Delterius]

 

[Dr Tomo]

Just a quick news update with how healthy Zynga is and the possibility that in the future the company might become profitable again.

This past year (2013) Zynga has let go over 522 employees*.

*http://gamejobwatch.com/#see-all

Zynga co-founder 'bored with all games'

Zynga has been going through hard times recently, even under the hand of new CEO Don Mattrick. That may have something to do with the games not grabbing players like they used to, as even co-founder Mark Pincus says he's gotten bored of the medium.

"Right now, I'm pretty bored with all games," Pincus said during an informal Q&A reported by The Wall Street Journal (via Eurogamer). He had been asked what his favorite game is right now. He went on to explain that he used to get hooked on games like FarmVille or CityVille, but hasn't been grabbed by a new one that way. "I want that addiction again," he said.

Yossi Vardi, who had asked the question, even gave Pincus a chance to retract his comment, and Pincus declined. He isn't explicitly criticizing his own company's games, but it's not a great sign when the head of the publisher doesn't tout its own recent titles, especially in contrast to older games that he says did grab him.

Zynga has been suffering layoffs and studio closures. Most recently financial results showed that it had lost half of its daily users, leaving new CEO Don Mattrick the unenviable task of righting the ship. He promised to "go back to basics" and focus on free-to-play social games, but warned of "more volatility" in the next few quarters.

http://www.shacknews.com/article/81448/zynga-co-founder-bored-with-all-games

Zynga Co-Founder Waldron Will Leave and 2 More Heavily Traded Stocks to Follow

Contributing to a list of notable recent departures, co-founder Justin Waldron announced in a Facebook post that he will exit the company, writing “I’ve decided it’s time to leave Zynga and venture off on my own again.” Waldron’s is the most recent departure for the games maker, which has experienced a number of high-profile figures taking their leaves, such as Chief Operating Officer John Schappert, Chief Creative Officer Mark Verdu, and Chief Game Designer Brian Reynolds. However, Waldron’s fellow co-founder Chairman Mark Pincus is still at the firm, serving as its chief product officer, as well.

http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/...-2-more-heavily-traded-stocks-to-follow.html/
http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/...-2-more-heavily-traded-stocks-to-follow.html/

Zynga surges 12% after sales beat projections

Investors got good news from Zynga on Thursday afternoon -- or at least some not-so-bad news.
Shares of the social gaming company surged 12% in after-hours trading Thursday after it reported third-quarter sales of $202.6 million, beating the analyst projection of $187.9 million. The company also posted a smaller-than-expected loss -- $16 million, or two cents a share, against a projection of four cents.

Zynga still faces a difficult road ahead, having struggled to replicate earlier successes like FarmVille and Words With Friends.

The company's daily active user total slipped 23% versus the second quarter to 30 million, and 49% versus a year ago. Monthly active users fell to 133 million, from 311 million a year ago.

http://money.cnn.com/2013/10/24/technology/zynga-shares/

They also lost a law suit on trademark of the word Scramble against Mattel as it was too similar to the word Scrabble and so now Zynga has to change the name, but they claimed that they will appeal as it wasn't meant to confuse users with Mattel's brand.

*source: http://www.vg247.com/2013/11/04/zynga-wins-scramble-with-friends-lawsuit-but-logo-must-change/

 

[Blaine]

They also lost a law suit on trademark of the word Scramble against Mattel as it was too similar to the word Scrabble and so now Zynga has to change the name, but they claimed that they will appeal as it wasn't meant to confuse users with Mattel's brand.

Zynga, steal and plagiarize other people's ideas? What slander.

 

[Curious_Tongue]

They also lost a law suit on trademark of the word Scramble against Mattel as it was too similar to the word Scrabble and so now Zynga has to change the name, but they claimed that they will appeal as it wasn't meant to confuse users with Mattel's brand.

Zynga, steal and plagiarize other people's ideas? What slander.

Even if Zynga was the loser in this case, It's still not good that big players not only get to trademark names, but also trademark anything that kinda reminds people of it.

 

[Infinitron]

Old news bro, he joined Zynga in 2009.

 

[Dr Tomo]

What's going on at Zynga?

That's the question investors are likely asking after the gaming company on Thursday slashed its projected financial performance for the coming year, highlighted by falling sales and uncertain profits, even after various financial measurement adjustments.

The company's shares plummeted 12 percent in after-hours trading following the announcement, after closing up nearly 5 percent to $2.92. The company's shares have fallen nearly 24 percent so far this year.

Don Mattrick, Zynga's chief executive, isn't happy about it either. "We aspire to do better and improve execution across our business," he said in a statement.

As it has in the past, the game company had explanations for the disappointing news, as well as ideas for how to get its proverbial car out of the mud and back on the road.

The why: Zynga says it delayed several key games, including a revamp of Words With Friends and Zynga Poker for a couple months. It also delayed new titles from NaturalMotion, the company's recent and large acquisition which was said to introduce new gameplay styles and technology that would help Zynga compete more effectively.

So how does this get fixed?

Zynga said it's going to expand into a new product category: sports games. It has signed deals with the National Football League and players association to build a new title in time for the upcoming season. Zynga has also worked out a deal with pro golfer Tiger Woods. None of the terms were disclosed, but Mattrick said he made sure the deal would be mutually beneficial to the company. As part of the effort, Zynga's building a new franchise called "Zynga Sports 365."

The company has also signed a deal with Warner Bros. to bring a Looney Tunes-inspired game to mobile devices as well. The genre: An endless running game.

We've been here before

Colin Sebastian, an analyst at RW Baird, asked to describe Zynga as a company, sums it up as being "caught between a rock and a hard place."

But perhaps the mud-stuck car analogy is more appropriate. "It's not about what's in the rear-view mirror, but what's looming ahead," he said. "Where is this company going to be in a year, or even six months?"

Zynga rose to prominence on the back of an addictive game called FarmVille. Nothing short of an international sensation, the San Francisco game company named after co-founder Mark Pincus's bulldog, made millions convincing users of Facebook's social network to click different items in succession to slowly build their version of a cartoonish farm.

The company introduced the West to a highly profitable new business model as well: free games. Players can start for free, but can pay for certain items, like a special translucent fish, or to speed through the game more quickly.

As the Wall Street Journal explained in 2011, Zynga watched players's actions, responding as fast as it could to their whims and wants. The company had plenty of competitors in the newly crowned and fast-growing "social games" industry, but what made Zynga successful was a keen understanding of what kept people playing, and a mastery of the analytical data that came from each player's actions. Employees fled giant companies like Electronic Arts, and acquisitions began to heat up.

When Zynga filed to go public three years ago, its value was estimated to be as high as $20 billion. Their rate of growth is amazing," said Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, at the time. Today, he sees things differently.

"Social is a dead business and will never will grow," he said. "FarmVille is like playing with dolls and everybody wins." He wants Zynga to move into more competitive types of games where players attack one another. Why? "People spend money on revenge."

The past three years have not been kind to Zynga. It has lost users, navigated layoffs, and attempted to acquire its way to success. At its peak, Zynga spent $180 million for OMGPop, a company behind the hit game Draw Something, which displayed a word, prompting players to draw images on the screen in response. The game's rocket growth sputtered soon after the acquisition, and the studio was shut down a year later.

Last July, Zynga replaced Pincus, the company's founding CEO, with Mattrick, a seasoned game executive who turned around Microsoft's Xbox business and before that helped launch industry-defining titles at Electronic Arts. Under his leadership, Zynga has cut loose its less promising projects, and refocused on the hot market of mobile video games.

In January, he agreed to acquire NaturalMotion for $525 million in cash and stock, promising it would bring new technology and a portfolio of successful games under Zynga's roof.

But analysts, and investors, still aren't convinced. "They continue to really lack a generally innovative portfolio of games," said Adam Krejcik, managing director at Eilers Research.

Back to Earth

Clumsy Ninja, a popular mobile game by NaturalMotion, represented a key part of Zynga's ongoing strategy. Zynga
Now, Zynga says it will take a little longer till we see the fruits of its latest step in its turnaround effort.

The company said it expects to either break even or post a loss of 1 cent per share after adjustments for stock based compensation and other items, down from earlier projections of as much as 3 cents per share. "Bookings," a measure of sales adjusted for items such as deferred revenue, are now expected to be between $695 million to $725 million down from previously expected $770 million to $810 million, a drop of about 10%.

Earnings before interest, taxes and other items, a measure many struggling companies use to discuss burgeoning profits, are expected to drop to between $40 million and $60 million, down by at least 40 percent from before.

For its fiscal second quarter ended June 30, Zynga said it rung up bookings of $175.1 million, within its guidance but below the $191.2 million analysts had expected, according to surveys by Thomson Reuters. On an adjusted per-share basis, it broke even, which is better than the one-cent loss it recorded the same time last year, and within analyst's estimates as well.

In the immediate future, Zynga says it plans to launch its football game, and prepare to release some new ones by the end of the year.

And it also plans to stay its course.

On a conference call with analysts following the earnings announcement, Mattrick why the company still has so many employees. "Why not have a smaller headcount? Well, it's tied to our aspirations," he said. "We want to build a big successful at-scale company with multiple experiences able to service multiple network partners, being able to be the best in class in multiple disciplines."
*source

So in a nut shell Zynga is still some how solvent, but the good news is that investors believe that "social games" are dead. It looks like Mattock can't revive Zynga like he did with Xbox's gaming business, I think it is time for Zynga and Crytek to enter a partnership and get into the f2p revolution that is happening on PC. Crytek's skills and Zynga's $$$, I can see many people on the Codex enjoying games and giving .

 

[Blaine]

"They continue to really lack a generally innovative portfolio of games," said Adam Krejcik, managing director at Eilers Research.

That's because they blatantly steal all of their ideas.

 

[SwiftCrack]

Time for another episode of the Mattrick setting himself up for a hat-trick of fail.

 

[JarlFrank]

Why the fuck do people play this shit, anyway. With almost every browser and facebook game I played, I stopped after a week because I got annoyed by the WAIT FOR YOUR ENERGY TO RECHARGE BEFORE YOU CAN DO STUFF AGAIN!! shit. Those types of games are completely BSB.

Fuck those losers.

 

[SwiftCrack]

Yes well the trick generally is to get them to buy the powerup that reduces that energy cooldown.

 

[Grunker]

people

It's not exactly accurate to use the broad term "people" when speaking about 40-year-old housewives, you know.

 

[JarlFrank]

I thought this was also played by a lot of other people, like teens who spend hours on facebook.

 

[Borelli]

Zynga's CEO being named Don is so ... villainy.

 

[SwiftCrack]

Zynga's CEO being named Don is so ... villainy.

 

[Grunker]

I thought this was also played by a lot of other people, like teens who spend hours on facebook.

I have a buddy who studies 'IT & business'. According to him, the vast majority of turn-around on the gaming market is constituted by 30-50 year old women. Most of those are playing Farmville, Bejeweled and flash games.

 

[Dr Tomo]

Why the fuck do people play this shit, anyway. With almost every browser and facebook game I played, I stopped after a week because I got annoyed by the WAIT FOR YOUR ENERGY TO RECHARGE BEFORE YOU CAN DO STUFF AGAIN!! shit. Those types of games are completely BSB.

Fuck those losers.

It's okay as we might get lucky and have Zynga & Crytek team up in the f2p market. With Zynga's shit design ideas and Crytek's cheap labor in 2nd world countries everyone on the dex can enjoy a fun p2w moba or KF clone games we can throw all our Jew gold too. Like they said, "social games are dead" and do the next step is to enter f2p which is what Crytek said is the new norm.

 

[Morgoth]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/...yngaceo-donmattrick-tobe-terminated/23351253/

Zynga CEO Don Mattrick's job security is being questioned as the maker of online game FarmVille — once the most popular game on Facebook — continues to struggle.

A prominent Wall Street analyst on Friday called for Mattrick, who took over the helm at Zynga in July of 2013, to be "terminated" following disappointing fourth-quarter earnings results.

In his note, Greenfield criticized Mattrick for spending time and money on finding the next big blockbuster at the expense of the company's "core franchises," like Zynga Poker. He also blasted Mattrick for rushing out games and not properly testing games before launching them.

On Thursday, Mattrick admitted to investors that the company hasn't always taken the time it should have to get the games right before launching them, including its NFL Showdown game.

Spoiler