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Zynga is the #1 social gaming company on the web. Zynga was founded specifically to add a social element to casual online games because we love games, and we love them most when we're playing with friends! Social games provide a more fun, competitive and contagious experience. Zynga delivers on the promise of social networks, making it easy to connect with old friends and make new ones (no download required!). Zynga has something for everyone: casino games, word games, board games, role playing games and party games which can be found on Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Friendster, and Hi5.

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    FarmVille nabs inaugural social games award at GDC

    Posted by Zynga in Zynga News

    Mar 12, 2010 8:51:31 PM

    Image  A lot has happened in the past 8 1/2 months since we launched FarmVille. More than 30 million users fertilize and grow crops every day, and yesterday FarmVille and social gaming scored a big win at the Game Developers Conference. 

    For the first time this year, the Game Developers Choice Awards honored the social and online gaming space. FarmVille won for best new social/online game. Dressed in a green FarmVille t-shirt and gray Zynga hoodie, FarmVille general manager Bill Mooney (left) accepted the award last night on behalf of his  team at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco. 

    Social gaming is just getting started, and there's plenty of opportunities for developers to make their mark. Speaking to a crowd of 600 people, Bill encouraged independent game developers to develop and publish social games on platforms like Facebook. "One thing I want to say to people, especially indie developers, is that I was in triple-A games for eight years, and it's really nice to be at a place where you can just get stuff out," he said.

    Bill took some time from his busy schedule today to share his thoughts on FarmVille's GDC award.

    Q: Why do you think FarmVille won the GDC award?

    Bill Mooney: Because 85 million players a month can't be wrong.

    Q: This is the first year the GDC had a social/online gaming category. Are you surprised by that?

    BM: The game industry is a year late. They underestimated people's hunger to play games with their friends. I think traditional gaming companies think social gaming is still a fad. We're convinced that it's here to stay. In fact, we know it is.

    Q: In your award speech, you focused on independent developers. Is there still some hesitation among game developers to work in social gaming?

    BM: I want indie developers to know that this is a good space to make games and get visibility. If you develop a great game, people will find it and play it. You don't have to wait years and years to make it happen. People loved FarmVille and were playing it before we spent any money on advertising.

    Q: What's next up for FarmVille farmers?

    BM: We're going to introduce pets that can do tricks next. And users will get to do fun missions with their friends very soon.

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    Zynga Opens First International Office in India

    Posted by Zynga in Press Releases

    Feb 17, 2010 12:01:00 AM

    SAN FRANCISCO – Feb. 17, 2010 – Zynga, the leading social games provider, today announced it has opened Zynga India in Bangalore, the company’s first office outside the United States.  The India operation will focus on game and large-scale infrastructure development to support Zynga’s games played by millions of people every day.

     

    Online gaming in India is rapidly expanding. Forty one percent of active Internet users played online games in 2008, up 89 percent from the previous year, according to the Internet & Mobile Association of India.  With more than 81 million Internet users, India is projected to become the third largest online market behind China and the U.S. by 2013.  Zynga hopes exposure of its social games such as FarmVille, Mafia Wars, Café World, and FishVille, will grow among Indian players with the presence of a local office.

     

    “Social gaming combines the best of web technical talent with game storytelling,” said Zynga CEO Mark Pincus.  “India offers some of the world’s most sophisticated and rich technical talent bases and we are thrilled to have a local presence.”

     

    The new operation will add to Zynga’s current game studios in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Baltimore.  Zynga India is looking to recruit computer scientists and engineers who are experienced in building scalable infrastructure.

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    Zynga Acquires Social Game Developer Serious Business

    Posted by Zynga in Press Releases

    Feb 11, 2010 10:59:00 AM

    SAN FRANCISCO – Feb. 11, 2010 – Zynga, the leading social games provider, today announced it has signed an agreement to acquire Serious Business, creators of social games on Facebook.  The deal will enhance Zynga’s mission to build world-class games that connect people to one another. 

     

    Serious Business will bring many of the innovations they have developed, to games played by Zynga’s 60 million daily active users.  As part of the agreement, employees of Serious Business will join Zynga at the company’s headquarters in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill.  Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

     

    "We’re very excited to gain an experienced team that is committed to building social games," said Vish Makhijani, chief operating officer at Zynga.  “We are impressed with Serious Business’ entrepreneurial attitude, speed, and innovation in developing social games and welcome them to our team.”

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    FarmVille Launches on MSN Games

    Posted by Zynga in Press Releases

    Feb 4, 2010 2:34:00 PM

    SAN FRANCISCO – Feb. 04, 2010 – Zynga, the largest social games provider, today announced a partnership with MSN Games that lets users play FarmVille on the site through Facebook Connect.  The new relationship with MSN Games expands Zynga’s efforts to make social games more accessible to new gamers and broadens Zynga’s reach to tens of millions of MSN Games visitors each month.  The FarmVille launch on MSN Games marks the first time the popular application can be played on a dedicated game destination. 

     

    Today’s agreement is the first step towards bringing Zynga’s social games to Microsoft’s platform.  In the coming months, additional Zynga titles will launch on MSN Games and Windows Live Messenger, which reach more than a half billion users combined each month.  More than 75 million play FarmVille each month on Facebook, and millions more now have access to the popular hit through the MSN Games portal.

     

    “Social gaming has gone mainstream,” said Mike Verdu, senior vice president of games at Zynga. “People love to connect with their friends through our games, which are broadly accessible and have universal themes.  Bringing FarmVille to a major site like MSN Games is a great way to expand the reach of social games and is a logical next step in how we deliver them to consumers.”

     

    “We’ve heard time and time again that people want a simple, easy way to play great games with friends and family. That’s why MSN Games delivers more than 1,000 fun and engaging games for all ages,” said Mike Ybarra, general manager for Windows Gaming. “As hundreds of millions of customers continue to enjoy social gaming, we’re excited to partner with Zynga to add FarmVille to our broad portfolio of games on MSN Games.” 

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    Welcome to Mafia Wars Bangkok!

    Posted by Zynga in Zynga News

    Jan 29, 2010 11:00:38 AM

    I'm really excited to let everyone know about Mafia Wars' latest and greatest expansion to Bangkok! Just launched, this new city destination is the first major expansion that is accessible to early players, yet definitely challenging enough for high level players. I think our very own Mafia Wars team member Mike Humphrey summed this one up best below.

    And here's a write-up from Games.com that you should check out: http://blog.games.com/2010/01/28/mafia-wars-bangkok-everything-you-need-to-know/

    Bangkok
     

    "Sawatdee! The latest expansion city for Mafia Wars will grant players the opportunity to expand their criminal empire into the heart of Southeast Asia - the capital city of Thailand, Bangkok! Upon their arrival at Suvarnabhumi Airport, aspiring crime bosses will need to immediately establish a presence in the city. Their efforts will not go unnoticed, however. The Japanese Yakuza and Chinese Triad criminal organizations already have substantial interests in the region, so establishing a good relationship with one or the other will be key to success in Bangkok.

     

    Mafia Wars: Bangkok introduces a brand new faction system, where completing certain jobs and defeating players who have aligned with the opposite faction will allow the player to earn reputation with the criminal enterprise they have chosen to side with. Increased reputation will unlock one of two final episodes, located in Hong Kong or Tokyo, depending on their reputation with each faction. However, betrayal is always an option for players. If they grow tired of helping one faction, they can complete certain jobs for the other side and attack and defeat members of their own faction. Doing so will improve their standing with their new friends while slowly decreasing reputation with their old allies.

     

    Additionally, we are including a brand new faction store where players can purchase a selection of special armor, weapons, vehicles, and even a unique business that produces boosts. New items for purchase will become unlocked as the player improves their reputation with their chosen faction. Each of the factions in Bangkok has adopted a different strategy:

    • The Yakuza believe that the best defense is a good offense, and offer aggressive players a selection of items to enhance their attack power.
    • The Triads prefer caution, forcing their enemies to fight where the Triads are strongest; they offer defensive players new items to improve their ability to fend off attacks.

    We also plan to introduce additional items to the faction store in the coming months to ensure that supporting a faction remains an important element of play in the expansion.

    Mafia Wars: Bangkok will be accessible to players of a lower level than previous expansions. Players level 18 and above who have discovered the items to unlock the expansion - the Yakuza Sake, Triad Coin, Thai Note - can obtain their Passport and travel to the new city. In order to create a system that remains challenging to higher level players, but still allows lower level players to progress, we have discounted energy costs, and reduced experience payouts as appropriate, on a sliding scale for players between levels 18 and 200. This means that lower level players can still progress through the new jobs, although not quite as quickly as more experienced players. Above level 200, energy costs and experience payouts for completing jobs will remain fixed.

    Finally, Mafia Wars: Bangkok will include much more of what our players enjoy: 4 episodes packed with dozens of jobs including 4 faction-based jobs per episode, 2 unlockable episodes, tons of new items, an assortment of businesses to muscle in on, as well as collection sets and achievements. We hope both new and veteran players will enjoy the expansion as much as we enjoyed creating it."

     
     BANGKOK_EP5b_CH3_744x200


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    Zynga Players Raise Over $1.5 Million for Haiti in Five Days

    Posted by Zynga in Press Releases

    Jan 20, 2010 5:38:38 PM

    SAN FRANCISCO – Jan. 20, 2010 – In five days, more than 300,000 Zynga game players purchased $1.5 million in virtual social goods to support relief efforts in Haiti. Through Zynga’s top four games, users from 47 countries donated to U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) by buying limited edition items in FarmVille, FishVille, Mafia Wars and Zynga Poker.  FarmVille users alone raised $1 million.

     

    One hundred percent of the proceeds from virtual social goods that Zynga users purchased went to WFP, which has an emergency response team distributing food and other relief to millions affected by the earthquake. These virtual items included white corn in FarmVille, a Haitian drum in Mafia Wars, a Haiti fish in FishVille, and a chip package in Zynga Poker. In addition, links for donations were promoted through Zynga’s other games, including Café World, PetVille, YoVille.com, and the Zynga.org site.  With today’s announcement, Zynga users will have raised $2.7 million for Haiti, having donated $1.2 million for the welfare of children and women late last year.

     

    “We are extremely grateful to Zynga for this contribution,” said Nancy Roman, WFP’s director of communications. “Through their donations, Zynga players are helping us to bring urgently needed food assistance to people who have been plunged into hunger by this devastating earthquake. We started distributing food within 24 hours of the earthquake, and in the coming weeks, we aim to deliver weekly rations to 2 million people.”

     

    “We are humbled by the response from our users and the speed with which they rallied from everywhere to help so many in Haiti,” said Zynga CEO Mark Pincus.

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    Zynga Creates Haiti Relief Fund

    Posted by Zynga in Press Releases

    Jan 14, 2010 4:31:32 PM

    SAN FRANCISCO – Jan. 14, 2010 – Starting tonight, Zynga (www.zynga.com) will run a special relief campaign in three of its top games that reach over 40 million users daily. Users can purchase limited edition social goods in FarmVille, Mafia Wars and Zynga Poker, and 100 percent of the proceeds will go towards supporting emergency aid in Haiti. All contributions to the Haiti Relief Fund will benefit the World Food Programme (WFP) which has set up an emergency response team to distribute food and other relief to thousands in Haiti affected by the devastating earthquake.

     

    Zynga’s users have already raised $1.2 million for Haiti through purchasing virtual social goods. The funds have provided school lunches to Haitian children and contributed to a revolving loan campaign for Haitian women living in extreme poverty.

     

    In the new campaign, users can purchase white corn within FarmVille that will not wither if left unattended for a week or a Haitian drum in Mafia Wars. Zynga Poker fans that buy a special chip package will receive a rare premium item. Additionally, users can donate directly to the WFP through Zynga.org.

     

    “The devastation in Haiti is unimaginable, and anything we or our users can do is tiny compared to the utter loss for this nation,” said Mark Pincus, Zynga’s CEO.

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    InsideSocialGames: Interview with Zynga CEO Mark Pincus on Social Gaming in 2010

    Posted by Zynga in Press Articles

    Dec 30, 2009 8:33:11 AM

    Excerpt: Veteran entrepreneur Mark Pincus has had a huge year. His company, Zynga, went from being one of several relatively small social gaming companies on Facebook’s developer platform to clearly take the lead in terms of users — and, from what many people hear, revenue.

    With a raw total of 230 million monthly active users and nearly 60 million daily active users on Facebook alone, it is many times larger than its nearest rivals, according to AppData. These numbers do not include the company’s games on other platforms, like MySpace and the iPhone.

    Based primarily on the sale of virtual goods within games like virtual farm game FarmVille, the company will likely do at least $200 million in revenues this calendar year, according to our estimates, and revenue growth is looking very strong as we enter 2010.

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    AdWeek: Top Digital Trends for 2010

    Posted by Zynga in Press Articles

    Dec 28, 2009 9:26:00 AM

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    As a rough 2009 draws to a close, the digital marketing world is looking ahead to 2010, hoping to deliver stronger growth in the sector, which is one of the few bright spots in the media world. What lies ahead? We identified 10 trends that are sure to make waves in 2010.

    1. Content at Scale.

    In remaking AOL, CEO Tim Armstrong has gone back to the future by betting on content. But Armstrong doesn't believe content is king in the old way. In the new world, the race is on to use data and automation to produce content that people (and advertisers) want at as low a price as possible. That's led to the rise of so-called content mills like Demand Media and Associated Content. AOL is betting its future on the area. The question for 2010 is whether this automation and data-driven approach will lead to a flowering of useful information or more detritus clogging search results with low-grade, ad-heavy Web pages.

    2. The End of the Digital Agency.

    There won't be a moment when the invisible line dividing digital and traditional agencies is completely erased. But 2010 will see the distinction blur to the point of being meaningless. The Great Race, as Forrester Research calls it, pits digital shops looking to hone their branding chops against traditional agencies adding tech skills. More digital agencies will compete for (and sometimes win) through-the-line assignments, and more clients will be willing to choose a lead agency based on which of its roster shops comes to the table with the best idea.

    3. Social Gaming.

    At first glance, it's easy to wonder why anyone would use FourSquare, the mobile social network that awards users points for checking into restaurants and bars. Start using it and you'll see how addictive it becomes in competing to become "mayor" of your local coffee shop. The same goes for the runaway success of social gaming company Zynga, which has shown that people will spend real money for virtual goods. Marketers have just begun to dip their toes in the area, but brands are certain to explore it further in 2010.

    4. Demand-Side Platforms.

    If there was a watchword of 2009, it was efficiency. That's likely to continue well into 2010. Internet advertising remains inefficient to buy and sell. At the same time, behavioral advertising has attracted even more marketers to the notion of buying the audiences they want, using content as one of several signals. These trends led to the construction of ad exchanges, which in turn has fueled the development of agencies building out demand-side platforms like Interpublic Group's Cadreon and Publicis Groupe's VivaKi. More ad inventory will flow through these systems, threatening to further disrupt the digital publishing landscape with more automation.

    5. Engagement Pricing.

    There's no shortage of critics of the Web's ad pricing system. In crude terms, it divides into two buckets: clicks for direct response and impressions for branding. As the Web matures as a branding medium, 2010 should be the year when more publishers and marketers explore new pricing mechanisms that better reflect their goals. Promising starts have already been made in cost-per-engagement and time-based ad models by networks like VideoEgg and Lotame. The challenge is the same for any new approach: New models might make more intuitive sense, but they diverge from the accepted media-planning practices.

    6. Augmented Reality Grows Up.

    To date, augmented reality has proven to be another gee-whiz tool for agencies. Only a few efforts, like AKQA's tool for the U.S. Postal Service that uses AR to find the right size packages, pass the useful test. That should change as AR and mobile converge to provide an array of useful services. City guide Yelp has shown the possibilities of AR with an iPhone app that lets users view reviews of nearby businesses (like restaurants) through their phone camera. While AR will likely retain its cool factor, its test for 2010 is in proving it can live up to the hype.

    7. Social Media Morphs into Digital.

    If 2009 was the Year of Twitter, 2010 will be the year when social-media tools are treated as part of the fabric of the digital world. As Altimeter Group's Charlene Li predicted, social media would become "like air," and be pretty much everywhere. That means publishers and marketers will use tools like Twitter and Facebook Connect to make experiences more social. More marketers will look at social as an integral part of their digital strategy, rather than a stand-alone area for experimentation.

    8. Privacy Wars.

    Data on consumers, the Web's greatest strength, might also be its Achilles heel. Scrutiny on the collection and use of consumer information online will increase in 2010, as regulators grapple with whether the industry needs new rules of the road that give consumers more notice and say when their information is collected. The ultimate bogeyman -- an opt-in requirement for collecting behavioral data -- probably wouldn't fly, but Web players will likely be required to give more notice and choice to consumers when tracking their digital footprints. The ad-preferences dashboards rolled out by Google and Yahoo are a sign of things to come. Another possibility is marking behaviorally targeted ads to give consumers an easy way to opt out of tracking.

    9. Data Gets Creative.

    Until recently, data has remained the preserve of ad targeting. Expect that to change in 2010 as more marketers tap into the popularity of data visualization by providing tools for consumers to see data in action. Sprint used this approach to produce a hit advertising campaign with the Sprint Now widget. The king of this approach remains Nike Plus, which uses data visualization to show runners how they're progressing. Thanks to open application programming interfaces, Twitter has spawned dozens of data visualization offshoots, conditioning people to mix their social data to find interesting trends.

    10. The Year of Mobile, Finally.

    After many false starts, 2010 figures to be the year when the mobile advertising market finally takes off. Heavyweights Apple and Google are poised to face off in the key market, with Google pouring its seemingly infinite resources into the development of the Android operating system. The competition will open up new opportunities for marketers in the burgeoning app economy. The biggest push should come in location-based services, which hold the possibility of giving brands the chance to minutely target consumers.

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    Capital Press: Welcome to FarmVille

    Posted by Zynga in Press Articles

    Dec 24, 2009 8:41:00 AM

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    FARMVILLE, U.S.A. -- Welcome to a farm where pink cows give strawberry milk, wheat is ready to harvest in three days and neighbors are always eager to give you a banana tree or reindeer.

    And more than 65 million people "live" there.

    This mythical place is FarmVille, one of the Internet's most popular games. Tens of millions of "farmers" have joined the online agricultural experience, and on any given day 27 million of them are hard at work growing virtual crops and raising cybernetic animals of all stripes.

    Bill Mooney is FarmVille's secretary of agriculture. The vice president and general manager of Zynga, the company that created FarmVille, told the Capital Press he wanted to create a fun experience that allows players to connect with friends and express their individuality.

    "We knew FarmVille would be a hit, because the game has successfully captured the essence of going back to the basic mechanics of life and resonates well with players all over the world," Mooney said.

    Developers tried to keep the game realistic with varied times for harvest and the inclusion of tractors, fuel and animals, Mooney said.

    There are also aspects that are not entirely realistic, such as baby elephants and alien cows, he said.

    Mooney said he has heard from farmers and others in agriculture who say they love the game or who want to partner with the company.

    Zynga is open to future collaborations, Mooney said. He is currently discussing a partnership with the FFA. Zynga spokesperson Lisa Chan said the company has been in talks with the national organization, but no agreement has been reached.

    Julie Adams, National FFA director of marketing and communications, said applications like FarmVille, even though they don't accurately represent agriculture, demonstrate the fondness the public has for farming.

    "It shows at least an appreciation for where your food comes from," Adams said.

    The popularity of online farming games is exciting, said Sarah Hubbart, communications coordinator for Animal Agriculture Alliance.

    "It's showing people are interested, having a good time growing virtual crops and taking care of their virtual animals," she said.

    In November, the alliance posted a video on YouTube titled "The Real FarmVille," comparing the game to real farming.

    "It's a simple, straightforward video that shows that farming is a lot harder than it looks when you're just playing it on your computer," Hubbart said. "We're just hoping to reach some of those people who play the game and get them thinking about where their food is coming from."

    Lebanon, Ind., professional agricultural speaker and social media consultant Michele Payn-Knoper said farm games and social media like Facebook and Twitter can be used by farmers to interact with the public. The games provide a fun, quick way for users to get in touch with farming, she said.

    The biggest opportunity is for agriculture to have a voice in the conversation, she said, noting many anti-agriculture activists already use such outlets.

    "If you're not there, rest assured, many of the anti-agriculture activist groups are there having a voice for you," she said.

    Payn-Knoper said she knows farmers who, in addition to using Facebook or Twitter, also play FarmVille.

    The game is especially popular with teenagers.

    Robbie Lulay, a sophomore at Regis High School in Stayton, Ore., has played FarmVille about a month. About 40 of the 119 students at the rural school play FarmVille. Lulay said he got started through friends on Facebook.

    Lulay's parents farmed in the past, and he lived across the street from a farm. He enjoys working his own virtual land, even if the game isn't realistic.

    "Eh, it's not too close," he said. "Your plants don't get diseases or anything, but they die if you don't pick them."

    How to play

    When they sign up, FarmVille users receive a small parcel of land, which they can till and plant seeds for various crops, acquiring experience points and virtual gold for their efforts when they harvest the crop.

    Farmers also raise animals, collect eggs from chickens, use pigs to find truffles and milk cows. Put a bull and a cow together in your dairy barn and soon you will have a calf.

    Friends can share free gifts, from livestock to fruit-bearing trees. They can also visit a neighbor's farm and earn points and gold by scaring away pests or applying fertilizer to help their friends' crops grow.

    As points accumulate, the farmer can purchase more land, animals, housing, equipment and more expensive crops.

    Farm games grow

    The number of online farm games is growing, developers told the Capital Press.

    Like FarmVille, SlashKey's new game, Farm Town, is on Facebook. Another developer, PlayMesh, has announced it would follow its popular game, iMafia, with iFarm, a game for the iPhone.

    More than 1 million people downloaded the game in 10 days, PlayMesh CEO Charles Ju said.

    The iFarm game incorporates drawings of real images of plants as part of an "immersive farming experience," Ju said. But some aspects of farming were omitted for the sake of simplicity.


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