Zynga Plans To Bring 3 Of Its Top Moneymakers To Our Smartphones
It appears that former Microsoft executive and current CEO of Zynga, Dan Mattrick, wasn't joking when he said he intends to leave his mark on the company. After abandoning paid gaming in the US, a decision that seemed quite strange back then, the decline of the expected bookings in the third quarter of 2013 was only natural.
While the first and second quarters of 2014 are still under the volatility umbrella, it appears that Zynga is already preparing for its next big move: porting three of its biggest franchises to the mobile platform. Even though they haven’t announced a release date yet, you can expect to see FarmVille, Zynga Poker and Words With Friends on Google Play and iTunes very soon.
Is it even possible to reinvent a game as old as Zynga Poker?
Accounting for over 21% of the company’s online revenues, Zynga Poker was the first name on the list to be revamped for the mobile platform. According to the creative director at Zynga Poker, Nick Giovanello, his team spent a lot of time analyzing brick and walls casinos in order to figure out the elements in the design that affect player psychology.
While they admit porting the game was challenging, they did manage to pull it off. Coming in a fantastic color scheme featuring all sorts of red and gold tones that you can see in a real casino, Zynga Poker is expected to draw in numerous players.
FarmVille is designed as a standalone for mobile
As millions of fans can remember, a few years ago FarmVille had a mobile companion app that allowed players to water their crops from their smartphones. While Zynga’s intentions were good, many users found the fact that the app wasn’t full featured annoying.
Rejoice FarmVille fans everywhere and especially iPad Air owners, as the mobile version will be available in full 3D and with mobile friendly gestures for watering your crops. FarmVille 2: Country Escape will include an airport, a mine, a winery, a seaside farm and a trading stand to facilitate micro-transactions between players.
Words with Friends received a makeover
Acquired in 2010 for $53.3 million, Words with Friends accounted for 16% of Zynga’s online revenues last year. Therefore, it was only natural to include their third best moneymaker into the mobile platform. The good news is that the mobile version of the popular games will finally include the features all users have been requesting for quite some time, namely the vanity meter on the player’s profile and a dictionary.
In addition, Zynga has acknowledged the users’ complaints regarding the annoying number of ads that popped up at the most inappropriate moments. This is why Words with Friends will be available in a free, advertisement-supported app AND a paid version.
Will Zynga manage to use the momentum?
When the company went public in 2011, it registered an immediate success, with 9 of its games being listed on the top ten social games on Facebook. What Zynga failed to do back then – probably drunk on its huge triumph – was to keep up the pace with the mobile gaming trend. Because they didn’t invest enough to port their already popular games into the world of mobile gaming, they lost the momentum to younger rivals.
With competitors closing the gap on Zynga, the company had no other choice but to revamp three of its best moneymakers for mobile. Without denying the fact that the gaming company took a big hit and that it’s currently struggling, I believe they have a fair chance of recovering. After all, let’s not forget that after years of being second, King made an incredible comeback with Facebook.
