Real-money gaming (i.e., online gambling) could provide a big boost to Zynga’s faltering bottom line, and the company has talked about making a move into that market in the past. Today CEO Mark Pincus offered a timetable, of sorts — subject to licensing approvals, he said we should see Zynga’s first products in this field in the first half of 2013.
“What we’ve said, and what we have to announce today, is that we have our first products in development and that we intend to release them in markets that are regulated and open, subject to our getting licensing,” said Pincus, who was speaking on the analyst conference call discussing Zynga’s disappointing second quarter earnings. Those markets don’t include the United States: “The US is obviously an attractive market, but it’s not an open, regulated environment today.”
One of the analysts asked for details about how Zynga would pursue licensing, but Pincus declined to get any more specific.
When he spoke at the Fortune Brainstorm conference last week, Pincus pointed to real-money gaming (along with mobile and advertising) as one of the main areas where he expects to see revenue growth. He added that there was “a good chance” that online gambling will be legalized in the United States in some form, while also cautioning that he’s “not a good predictor of politics.”
As others have noted, moving into the gambling market will present some big challenges, given the headaches of legal compliance, the existence of already-dominant companies, and the fact that Zynga would have to attract a new audience.
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...
Weighing in at 150 lbs, is Mark Pincus, frenetic visionary of Zynga. His DNA is one strand entrepreneur and one strand competitive gamer. Mark founded Tribe.net, one of the first social networks in 2003. Prior to Tribe, he was the founder and CEO of SupportSoft. Prior to SupportSoft, Mark co-founded Freeloader, the first consumer push information service.
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