Joystiq

Zynga Platform launches in open beta

David Hinkle — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 17:30:00 EST

Well, that was fast. Just days after announcing its Zynga Platform, the casual and social games giant has revealed Zynga Platform is now available in open beta form. Like, you can go to Zynga.com right now and play some games. As of writing this post, 1.6 million people are currently doing just that.

Some functionality isn't live right now, but if you're a seasoned player, you'll find your progress there waiting for you on Zynga Platform. You can set up a Zynga profile, add some zFriends (ugh) and chat, and play any of the five games available: CastleVille, Words with Friends, CityVille, Hidden Chronicles and Zynga Poker.

Zynga Platform launches in open beta originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 06 Mar 2012 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New Zynga titles struggle, analysts call for increase in daily active users

Jordan Mallory — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 21:00:00 EST

Zynga's two latest games, Hidden Chronicles and the iOS-only Scramble With Friends, have failed to accumulate the same daily active user (DAU) totals as two of the social giant's previous releases, Castleville or Empires and Allies. This spells big trouble for the company's trading value and future growth, at least according to a report released by financial analysis group Cowen and Company.

Hidden Chronicles' 12 day post-launch DAU total of 710,000 is well below the over 5 million DAU figure reached by Empires and Allies and Castleville during their first 12 days of existence; similarly, Scramble With Friends has failed to penetrate the Top 20 barrier on the App Store. Historically, Zynga's DAU totals peak 3 months after a game has been released (according to the report), and while it's possible that both Hidden Chronicles and Scramble With Friends could slowly acquire a larger user base, there's nothing in Zynga's statistical history to make that extremely plausible.

Now, 710,000 daily users sounds like a ton of people, but Zynga has set the bar so high that it's not enough to keep the company's overall growth even: "The quarterly rate of DAU decline for Zynga's titles that are at least three months old has averaged 18.4 percent per quarter for the last two years," explained Doug Creutz of Cowen and Company. "Assuming Zynga averages a 20 percent quarterly rate of decline for titles beyond their launch windows in 2012, the company must add 9-10 million DAUs per quarter from new games just to keep total DAUs constant."

So basically, any game Zynga releases in 2012 has to achieve at least 5 million daily users in order for the company's user base to break even. In other news, Zynga has constructed a super-sonic ultra-high-altitude aircraft to recover the bar it's accidentally set for itself in the exosphere.

New Zynga titles struggle, analysts call for increase in daily active users originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 18 Jan 2012 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Zynga registers domains for 'Forestville'

Jordan Mallory — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 14:30:00 EST

Printing money is a lot easier than you might think. The conventional method of using a giant steampunk-tentacle robot to steal printing plates from a maximum-security bank vault is no longer necessary; these days all you need is access to Facebook APIs and the suffix "ville." Zynga, having no reason to halt their eternally forward march into a dollar-filled future, may be looking to add another printing press to its already well-stocked stable of money making franchises.

The domain detectives at Fusible have unearthed several recently registered URLs, all related to the presently unannounced IP Forestville. Registered through MarkMonitor, an intermediary used by A-list companies to register and hold domain names, the addresses run the gamut from forestvillegame.com to forestvillewithfriends.com and forestvillezynga.com.

Forestville.com is not among the registered domains, however, as it already belongs to the Forestville Central School District. Nothing else is known about the project as of yet, but we'd put good money on this being a micro-social Forest Whitaker simulator.

Zynga registers domains for 'Forestville' originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 03 Dec 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sorry farmers, but your cow is in another CastleVille (or: Zynga announces CastleVille for Facebook)

Ben Gilbert — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 14:40:00 EST

As if Zynga's plan to ghettoize Facebook players into various "Villes" wasn't already enormously successful, the social game megapublisher today announced intentions to branch into the burgeoning castle market with upcoming game "CastleVille." CEO Mark Pincus announced the game during a San Francisco-based press event this afternoon (morning for SFers), revealing that it was currently in production at Zynga's Dallas branch.

TechCrunch reports that gameplay centers on building and supporting a castle, with the added twist of defending it occasionally "from beasties." Pincus apparently told attendees that the title had been in production for at least a year. It's currently unknown when the game is launching, but we imagine when it does arrive it'll be launching on both Facebook and Google+. Get your ... uh ... moats ready! Yeah!

Sorry farmers, but your cow is in another CastleVille (or: Zynga announces CastleVille for Facebook) originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 11 Oct 2011 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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