Zynga To Shut Down Three More Games (Including CityVille 2), Promises Slower Launch Cycle In 2013

Anthony Ha

Anthony Ha is a writer at TechCrunch, where he covers media, advertising, and random startups. Previously, he worked as a staff tech writer at Adweek, a senior editor at the tech blog VentureBeat, and a local government reporter at the Hollister Free Lance, where he won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for breaking news coverage and writing.... → Learn More

Tuesday, February 5th, 2013
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cityville 2

During this afternoon’s fourth-quarter earnings call, Zynga announced three more game shutdowns — CityVille 2, Party Friends, and The Friend Game.

The most notable closure was probably CityVille 2, since it was the sequel to what was once Zynga’s biggest hit. However, the game’s traffic has plummeted. COO David Ko blamed some of CityVille 2′s failure on a lack of lead time to properly test the game.

Zynga had earlier announced a cost-savings plan that saw the shutdown of 11 titles. This year, the company will be releasing fewer games and spacing their releases further apart, Ko said. He also said that many of those new games have significant franchise potential.

Not all of the news was bad. Zynga’s earnings actually beat fourth-quarter analyst estimates, and during the call it touted a big milestone for FarmVille as well as the successful launch of its sequel.


Company: Zynga
Website: zynga.com
Launch Date: July 2007
IPO: NASDAQ:ZNGA

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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