Social gaming giant Zynga has had a big week. The company launched a new game, CityVille, last night; debuted FarmVille in Japan; and teamed up with American Express to allow cardholders to exchange rewards for virtual goods. Today Zynga announced on a conference call with the media to announce that the company has acquired Texas-based gaming company Newtoy. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Updating.
Founded by brothers Paul and David Bettner, Newtoy has created a number of hit iPhone apps, including Chess With Friends, WeRule and Words With Friends. Words With Freinds has been downloaded 12 million times.
Zynga Mobile head David Ko says that Newtoy will become Zynga’s “With Friends” office in Texas. Newtoy CEO and co-founder Paul Bettner will assumes the role of VP and GM of The Zynga With Friends Studio and David Bettner will become studio director.
Ko also shared some interesting statistics on Zynga’s current mobile usage. Farmville for the iPhone has seen 7 million downloads in only five months ad 10 million people per month accesing Zynga on a mobile device.
This year alone, Zynga has bought XPD in Beijing, Unoh Games in Tokyo, Conduit Labs in Boston, Dextrose AG in Frankfurt, Germany,Challenge Games in Austin, and Bonfire Studios in Texas.
Zynga currently has 10 major games, and 320 million people have engaged with a Zynga game worldwide.
Zynga was founded in July 2007 by Mark Pincus and is named for his late American Bulldog, Zinga. Loyal and spirited, Zinga’s name is a nod to a legendary African warrior queen. The early supporting founding team included Eric Schiermeyer, Michael Luxton, Justin Waldron, Kyle Stewart, Scott Dale, John Doerr, Steve Schoettler, Kevin Hagan, and Andrew Trader. Zynga’s mission is connecting the world through games. Everyday millions of people interact with their friends and express their unique personalities through our...
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