Zynga's Unleashed Event Featured New Games in Attempt to Save Company
posted Sunday Jul 1, 2012 by Nicholas DiMeo
Zynga has been able to make the news a lot as of late. After their initial $200 million purchase of studio OMGPOP, Zynga was then spotted at the ever so relevant E3 2012, however only in a meeting room. Then, just last week we mentioned that Zynga's usage of its popular games were down so much that the possible Draw Something game show might turn their ship around and make back some of the $200 million they spent on that studio.
This week, Zynga had a little media social at their office in San Francisco called Zynga Unleashed. Media and analysts were able to get a look at the roadmap of Zynga's games for the remainder of the year. After a dismal Q2, these games may be the only thing to save the company. Right now, the company only has Farm- and CityVille producing on a consistent basis.
Check after the break to see how the event went and what will the future be for Zynga.
The new games and features talked about at Zynga Unleashed were geared to bring back some sort of growth to the company, who hasn't been doing well since last month. Chief Mobile Officer David Ko said that 22 million people currently play mobile Zynga games every single day and that at the top of that list was Zombie Swipe and Words with Friends. Notice that Draw Something was not mentioned?
Their CEO Mark Pincus added that Zynga's games are just as important as calling or texting.
Games are starting to compete with text messages and even email. They are becoming pokes with a purpose.
Zynga also announced they will be releasing some new games, including Matching with Friends and Zynga Elite Slots. The company also announced that everyone should "look out for" a new deal with gaming company Atari. That might be the thing that could potentially save the company from its lowest point since going public back in December. Zynga also said that the games will be offered to several platforms that are not Facebook, furthering their attempt to establish a brand and name of their own that doesn't tie into the social network. This is certainly a much more justified decision after Facebook's disastrous IPO.
At the end of the event and in the days after, Zynga investors were still not impressed, as the stock went down six percent during the conference and ended at $5.76 per share for the day. Could these new games and new look for Zynga be the saving grace? Do you still play Zynga games? Let us know in the comments section below.
