Neowin News Feed for: Zynga

Microsoft confirms it thought about buying Zynga so it could enter the mobile games industry

John Callaham — Sat, 24 Jun 2023 20:38:01 +0000

Xbox head Phil Spencer confirmed during court testimony on Friday that it spent "quite a bit of time" on a deal to acquire Zynga, which in the end was bought by Take-Two Interactive. Read more...

FarmVille is finally shutting down on December 31

Usman Khan Lodhi — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 16:00:02 +0000

Zynga, FarmVille's developer, announced that the game is shutting down for good on December 31. This decision comes after Adobe announced it would stop updating and distributing Flash Player. Read more...

Mobile game Words with Friends is being turned into a TV show

Andy Weir — Thu, 20 Jul 2017 12:44:01 +0000

Words With Friends quickly became a huge hit when it launched in 2009 - and it remains surprisingly popular today. Now, Zynga is preparing to launch a new TV show based on the mobile game. Read more...

Zynga hires Microsoft's Xbox Music leader to manage its studios

John Callaham — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 00:38:24 +0000

Zynga has announced some changes in its leadership today, including word that it has hired Alex Garden, the current leader of Microsoft's Xbox Music division, to lead its game studios. Read more...

Zynga testing Bitcoin payments in several of its games

John Callaham — Sun, 05 Jan 2014 21:06:04 +0000

Zynga has announced it has started a program that will test the use of Bitcoin in several of its web-based micro-transaction games, including FarmVille 2 and CityVille. Read more...

Did Don Mattrick try to get Microsoft to buy Zynga in 2010?

John Callaham — Mon, 08 Jul 2013 12:44:32 +0000

A new report claims that while he was head of the Xbox division at Microsoft, Don Mattrick tried to negotiate with Zynga founder Mark Pincus for a deal that would had Microsoft buying Zynga. Read more...

Don Mattrick could get $50 million with move from Microsoft to Zynga

John Callaham — Fri, 05 Jul 2013 16:03:20 +0000

Zynga has revealed in a regulatory filing that Don Mattrick could get a total of $50 million in cash and stock to become Zynga's new CEO after leaving Microsoft as head of its Xbox division. Read more...

Conflicting reports emerge about why Don Mattrick is leaving Microsoft

Anthony Tosie — Wed, 03 Jul 2013 07:32:19 +0000

Reports are suggesting a wide variety of reasons for why Don Mattrick left Microsoft to become chief executive of Zynga, with some saying the move is because of Microsoft's upcoming restructuring. Read more...

Microsoft's Don Mattrick officially Zynga's new CEO

John Callaham — Mon, 01 Jul 2013 20:27:11 +0000

Zynga has confirmed that Don Mattrick, the leader of Microsoft's Xbox business, will depart the company and become Zynga's new CEO starting on Monday, July 8th. Read more...

Zynga announces massive layoffs; shutting down several studios

John Callaham — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 09:46:18 +0000

Game developer and publisher Zynga announced a huge 18 percent reduction of its workforce this week, which will affect over 500 employees and cause several studios to shut down. Read more...

Draw Something app to become a TV game show

Andy Weir — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 14:45:21 +0000

The phenomenally popular mobile app Draw Something is set to become a TV game show called 'Draw It!', with a cash prize up for grabs as contestants team up with celebrities against the clock. Read more...

EA sues Zynga; claims The Ville violates copyrights

John Callaham — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 21:07:01 +0000

Electronic Arts has filed a lawsuit against Zynga, claiming that Zynga's Facebook game The Ville violates copyrights owned by EA when it made its own Facebook game The Sims Social. Read more...

Insider trading lawsuit filed against Zynga

Nathan Tsui — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 00:55:21 +0000

The first lawsuit alleging insider trading has been filed against Zynga. The suit alleges that insiders at the company had prior knowledge of poor results and sold shares at higher prices. Read more...

Microsoft formally opposes US Defense of Marriage Act

John Callaham — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 16:40:55 +0000

Microsoft has joined with a number of other companies in formally opposing the United States' Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as being between a man and a woman. Read more...

Zynga sues PyramidVille developer

Tyler Holman — Sun, 13 May 2012 06:46:39 +0000

Zynga, the developer of titles like FarmVille, which has been accused of 'borrowing' elements from other developers in the past, is suing Kobojo, a French studio, over their 'PyramidVille' game. Read more...

Zynga listed as E3 2012 exhibitor; Atari and others skip event

John Callaham — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 17:31:15 +0000

Zynga is listed for the first time as an exhibitor for June's E3 video game trade show. However, Atari and other major game publishers won't be attending this year. Read more...

Zynga employees review their own game

Paul Ferson — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 13:30:00 +0000

Two Zynga employees have been observed reviewing their own game in a positive manner, since they are undoubtedly unbiased in their opinions. Read more...

Zynga stock surges after Facebook revenue link revealed

John Callaham — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:26:59 +0000

The stock price of Facebook-based game publisher Zynga soared up near 18 percent today after it was revealed that Facebook gets 12 percent of its total revenue from Zynga. Read more...

Zynga stock settles at $9.50 for first trading day

John Callaham — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 17:26:20 +0000

Facebook game publisher Zynga's stock didn't do as well as expected on the first day of trading as its stock price fell 5 percent to $9.50 on the NASDAQ stock market. Read more...

Zynga to begin trading stock publicly Dec. 16

John Callaham — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 12:20:09 +0000

Zynga announced that it will being trading its stock publicly on December 16. It plans to issue 100 million shares with a price of between $8.50 to $10 a share, which gives Zynga a $10 billion value. Read more...

Gaming news round-up: November 28

John Callaham — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 11:01:01 +0000

Today's gaming news include word that one of Zynga's Facebook games is now going to be an official Indiana Jones game, Angry Birds' developers reportedly turn down a big buyout offer and more. Read more...

Zynga CEO defends company's actions

John Callaham — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 21:42:25 +0000

Zynga CEO Mark Pincus reportedly sent out an email to the employees of his Facebook-based game publisher calling allegations made in the Wall Street Journal today "hearsay and innuendo" Read more...

Did Zynga ask employees to give back stock options?

John Callaham — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 20:07:37 +0000

Even as social networking game publisher Zynga preps to launch its IPO, a new rumor claims that the company asked employees to give back some of their stock options. Read more...

Zynga announces new games and Zynga Direct service

John Callaham — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 18:57:41 +0000

Game publisher Zynga announced a bunch of new games today, including CastleVille, along with Zynga Direct, its own social gaming online service that's built on Facebook Connect. Read more...

Mafia Wars 2 details emerge

John Callaham — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 10:11:00 +0000

More details have been revealed about Mafia Wars 2, the upcoming sequel to one of Zynga's first successful Facebook games. Mafia Wars 2 should officially launch in a few weeks. Read more...

Zynga's CityVille heads to Google+; prepare for addiction

Tim Schiesser — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 17:12:01 +0000

The hugely popular and addictive social game on Facebook, CityVille, is now available through Google+'s gaming section thanks to Zynga Read more...

Zynga profits down 95 percent in last quarter

John Callaham — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 00:53:08 +0000

Facebook game publisher Zynga reports that profits from its last fiscal quarter dropped down 95 percent from the same period a year ago as its player base shrank by 3 million players. Read more...

Zynga announces Mafia Wars 2

John Callaham — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 11:12:32 +0000

Zynga has announced plans to release Mafia Wars 2 in October, a sequel to one of the companies first Facebook games that still has a small but loyal following. Read more...

The Sims Social crosses 50 million player mark on Facebook

John Callaham — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:21:11 +0000

Electronic Arts has a massively popular Facebook game in The Sims Social. The newest version of EA's people sim series now has over 50 million users, making it second only to Zynga's Cityville. Read more...

Facebook brings in $1.6 billion in first half of 2011

John Callaham — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 20:22:51 +0000

A new report claims that privately owned Facebook brought in $1.6 billion in revenue in the first six months of 2011, which is double what it bought in 2010 in the same time period. Read more...

Zynga could delay its IPO launch

John Callaham — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 16:14:01 +0000

Successful Facebook game publisher Zynga could delay its plans to launch a public stock offering thanks to the current state of the stock market. Read more...

Zynga receives lawsuit over FarmVille and other games

Paul Ferson — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 18:17:38 +0000

Zynga, the company responsible for the creation of FarmVille, Mafia Wars and multiple other Flash-based games, has received a lawsuit from Segan LLC. Read more...

Microsoft and other tech companies battle in StarCraft II league

John Callaham — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 18:10:33 +0000

Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Twitter and other tech companies have fielded teams to compete in a StarCraft II online tournament. Read more...

Zynga releases 'Zynga City'; attempts to tap Chinese market

Paul Ferson — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 12:29:59 +0000

Zynga has joined a partnership with the Chinese company Tencent, who operate some of the largest online networks in China, including an instant messaging client called Tencent QQ. As The Telegraph outlines, the partnership allows... Read more...

Zynga gets sued for alleged copyright infringement

John Callaham — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 14:15:28 +0000

Zynga may be riding high due to its highly successful Facebook-based social games like Farmville, Cityville and Empires and Allies. However, another company has decided to take Zynga to court over alleged copyright infringement. Patent... Read more...

Rumor: Zynga offered PopCap Games a $1 billion cash deal

John Callaham — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 09:33:52 +0000

While Electronic Arts announced a deal earlier this week to acquire the casual game publisher PopCap with $750 million in cash and stock, a new story claims via unnamed source that PopCap actually got another... Read more...

Zynga's IPO filing shows a weakness

James Woodfin — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 03:36:32 +0000

Zynga has filed its IPO with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as Neowin has previously reported. The company is known for making games for Facebook, such as Farmville, Cityville, Frontierville, and other games; one of... Read more...

Zynga finally files for $1 billion IPO

John Callaham — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 17:21:09 +0000

After months of speculation, the popular Facebook game publisher Zynga has finally and officially filed for its public stock offering. AllThingsDigital reports that the company, in its filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission,... Read more...

Report: Zynga could file for IPO Wednesday

John Callaham — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 20:34:06 +0000

It's been rumored for months but the Facebook-based game publisher Zynga could be close to finally filing for that long awaited public stock offering. CBNC.com reports via unnamed sources that the company could file papers... Read more...

Google hiring for games product manager

John Callaham — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 23:33:06 +0000

It's hard to believe but the massive Internet company Google has never really made much of a push into the games industry. But that may finally be changing. A recent job listing at the official... Read more...