Zynga Surpasses Earnings Estimates, Acquires Developer Rollic

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Zynga Surpasses Earnings Estimates, Acquires Mobile Game Developer Rollic

by Samson Amore | August 5, 2020 @ 1:56 PM

Developer saw its highest mobile daily active users in April and early May as players sheltered-in-place

San Francisco-based mobile game developer Zynga reported a 47% increase in quarterly revenue in its second quarter, and will use some of that cash to acquire another smaller mobile game developer based in Istanbul called Rollic.

Rollic is the second Turkish game developer Zynga has taken a stake in over the last two months — it bought Peak Games in June for $1.8 billion. Zynga’s president of publishing Bernard Kim told TheWrap at the time of the Peak deal that Zynga is working on expanding its foothold in eastern and Asian markets, particularly in areas like Japan and Turkey where small, indie game development shops are emerging with increasing speed.

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The acquisition is expected to close October 1, Zynga said. Bromberg noted that by acquiring Rollic, Zynga nearly doubles its monthly active user count. Currently Zynga has 70 million monthly active users while Rollic counts 65 million.

Zynga’s popular mobile games include fantasy puzzler “Empires and Puzzles” from Small Giant Games, “Words With Friends 2,” and “Farmville.” It adds eight new games following the Rollic acquisition, including two puzzle games called “Go Knots 3D” and “Tangle Master 3D.”

“We have been looking very carefully for several years now at the hyper-casual segment and have been super intrigued by the growth we’ve seen,” Zynga chief operating officer Matt Bromberg told TheWrap. “The share of installs in the marketplace has moved meaningfully towards that and it’s the fastest growing segment in the mobile games space.” Bromberg defined hyper-casual titles as mobile games like “Tangle Master 3D” that don’t have multiplayer and contain simple game mechanics that are extremely easy to learn.

Zynga’s second quarter revenue surpassed its previously issued guidance and totaled $452 million, up roughly 47% from this time last year. At the same time, the game maker’s net losses during the second quarter more than doubled — it posted a $150 million net loss compared to $56 million in second quarter 2019.

Also Read: Why Are There Still So Few LGBTQ Characters in Gaming? (Guest Blog)

“On a year-over-year basis, our net loss grew by $94 million, primarily due to increased contingent consideration and income tax expense, partially offset by our improved operating performance,” Zynga noted in its earnings report. The company said the net loss posted was actually $10 million better than previously estimated for the quarter and attributed “the increase in contingent consideration expense is a function of Small Giant Games and Gram Games continuing to perform ahead of expectations.”

Zynga’s mobile daily active user count jumped 4% year-over-year in the second quarter, a total of 22 million users. The company also saw user spending increase as in-game purchases were up 38% annually to $518 million for the quarter. During the earlier months of the coronavirus pandemic, Zynga recorded its peak daily active user counts.

“In Q2, we saw our highest mobile daily active users in April and early May as more people sheltered-in-place. Toward the latter half of the quarter, our mobile (daily active users) started to return to levels consistent with Q1 2020,” Zynga said in its earnings report. “We are living in unprecedented times and more people than ever before are turning to games for entertainment and a sense of community… With so many of us staying at home, we saw heightened levels of player engagement, social connection and monetization in our portfolio.”

Zynga’s stock was up roughly 4.8% at market close on August 5 to $10.07 per share.

11 Board Games You Can Play Online While Stuck at Home (Photos)

Tired of the constant binge-watching and desperate to make at least some kind of human connection while stuck under quarantine due to the coronavirus? Fortunately, many of your favorite strategy tabletop games are available online, so you can play with friends while still practicing proper social distancing. Here are some favorites you can play online to help pass the time.
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Monopoly

There have been any number of mobile versions of Monopoly over the years, and you can find it on the app store, for your desktop or even on your gaming console. The additional perk is the option to do a pass and play game locally if the whole family happens to be in the same room.
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The Game of Life

The digital version of The Game of Life (Mrs. Maisel version pictured) adds in a fast mode to play a shortened game as well as minigames that make it more of a "Mario Party" experience. Clacking colorful wheel that doesn't spin properly not included.
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Settlers of Catan

Another staple if you're an avid board gamer, there naturally is an official Settlers of Catan app that even includes downloads for the game's many expansions, like Seafarers, Traders and Barbarians or Cities and Knights. But for those concerned that the aggressive trading aspect of the game might not translate in a digital app, the game lets you pose trades to all players at once and then select the best offer from any player you prefer.
Matěj Baťha
Carcassonne

A beloved staple for gamers, the digital version of Carcassonne is one of the better-reviewed boardgame experiences in the app store, and it provides a lot of variety, including easy modes for kids, downloadable expansion packs or a variety of AI playing types should you decide to play solo.
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Dominion

The deck-building game Dominion doesn't have an app but a website at Dominion.Games that manages to take a complicated card game and move it to the web. The web browser version spells out just how many actions and buys a player has each turn, you can right-click on any card to see its abilities, and it even itemizes every card played in a long thread. The base set of cards is available for free, but you can also purchase additional expansions, and you can then customize your settings so that the game filters cards you prefer or don't like.
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Exploding Kittens

The card game that started as the most-funded game in Kickstarter history is also an app that shares the card game's goofy animation style and makes things just as simple to learn.
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Pandemic

Pandemic may be as informative as it is timely, a game that requires you to work together with your partners in order to stop the spread of a virus that threatens the entire planet. Part of the challenge of the board game is planning your strategy several moves in advance, and without the aid of being able to talk things out in person, the game allows you to backtrack some of your moves so long as you haven't already drawn cards.
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7 Wonders

7 Wonders is the ideal game for accountants. The tabletop game requires a lot of patient, studious behavior as you determine what cards are playable and which will help you long term. For new players, it can be hard to learn and take an eternity. But the app highlights exactly what you can and can't afford, eliminates the clutter of tiles and cards and makes games breeze by in minutes.
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Splendor

Splendor is a simple enough game with a lovely visual style, and the app captures its simplicity and beauty perfectly. Up to four players claim colored gems that allow you to purchase cards and earn victory points. And via the app, which has timed moves to keep play moving relatively quickly, you can see what cards you're able to purchase immediately or even on your next turn depending on your choices.
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Terraforming Mars

Though Terraforming Mars is on the expensive side in the app store (currently listed at $8.99 on Apple), it greatly simplifies a game that has an enormous number of tiles, pieces and components to keep track of and does so with a neat visual style. Developer Asmodee has constantly improved the game to make it clear when your resources are destroyed, gained or stolen and grays out options that are unavailable to you during gameplay.
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Ticket to Ride

In Ticket to Ride, you collect colored cards in a race to build trains on designated routes across the country in the U.S. in 1910. The app works beautifully, allowing you to zoom in and visualize with lighted dots what train routes you need to connect. And it also allows you to pay to download the game's many alternate maps from countries around the globe.
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Just keep in mind that with any games, don't turn your friends into enemies. Here are some more recommendations for games that can ruin friendships.
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If you’re itching for strategy and human contact while on quarantine, try these online board games

Tired of the constant binge-watching and desperate to make at least some kind of human connection while stuck under quarantine due to the coronavirus? Fortunately, many of your favorite strategy tabletop games are available online, so you can play with friends while still practicing proper social distancing. Here are some favorites you can play online to help pass the time.

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