Sportsbook Guardian

$404 Million loss

How much is a Zillion? Without recourse to getting on google I have no idea (is it even a real number?), though I suspect it probably equates to the level of the UK’s national debt at present. In truth Zynga are not losing zillions, that’s just a hackneyed headline for my blog. Their loss is a not inconsiderable $404 million!

In tandem with their recently released figures their share price took a tumble and now hovers around $12, having gone IPO at $10. Despite this some analysts are talking up the chances of the stock touching $15, with Facebook going IPO they may well be right.

Mark Pincus their CEO said:
“We are seeing social games and, more broadly play, become one of the most popular pastimes on web and mobile. Zynga set new records in the year in terms of audience size, revenues and bookings. We saw great momentum in mobile and advertising and ended the year with a strong pipeline of new games.

“We are excited about the opportunities in front of us to continue delighting our current players and to bring play to millions of new people.”

When Zynga incorporated released their figures it made some interesting reading, and I am sure that a few of us are asking whether the company will realise their ambitions, or flounder? They now produce six of the top ten games on Facebook, including Zynga Poker which has 54 million daily players, so on one hand it’s very positive, yet also concerning that apparently at a time when they are to all extents doing very well they still show a loss. I wonder if the natural extension from poker/blackjack will be to move into offering sports betting?
 

Getting Money from the Users

The challenge for Zynga seems to be to monetise their business, the media have been reporting that they intend to open up their service to 3rd party developers, and also migrate more users to stand alone sites in a bid to end the overwhelming reliance on Facebook.

It will be fascinating to watch the Zynga’s further progress. I try to keep up to date with companies within the betting industry (both as a professional and personal interest) and must confess to not being a user of Zynga. However one thing I have noticed is that around a year and a half ago Facebook made it much easier to block the apps. Previously I was inundated with requests from connections to join Mafia Wars, or buy a tractor on Farmville.

More recently Facebook seem to have moved to a middle ground whereby you can still block apps but it’s a more tricky matter to navigate to, as you have to click on the apps menu. Perhaps Facebook were throwing a bit of a bone to Zynga? My half baked theory was that Zynga would have been hit by the ability for people to more easily dismiss invitations?

More will be revealed, and with Zynga in the public domain all will become clear with time. It will be interesting to see how the forerunner of “social gambling” progresses.

 
 
 
 
 
 

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