Zynga, Developer of Zynga Poker, Set to Launch NFT Game

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Zynga, an online and mobile game producer that introduced FarmVille, CSR Racing franchises and social gaming Zynga Poker, has revealed plans to enter the non-fungible token (NFT) and blockchain-based gaming markets. , among other Web3 expansion plans.

Zynga’s next project

The developer’s intentions for blockchain-based games come four months after the company named Matt Wolf as vice president of blockchain gaming in November 2021. Zynga is also reportedly considering increasing the size of its blockchain team from 15 to about 100 by the end of the year. .

The billion-dollar game studio made waves in the cryptocurrency world last year when it appointed Matt Wolf, a 30-year gaming industry veteran, as vice -president of Blockchain Gaming to lead the company’s foray into the burgeoning industry. Additionally, Zynga revealed plans to expand its blockchain gaming team from 15 to 100 people by the end of the year. Additionally, the company could soon be acquired by gaming giant Take-Two Interactive, publisher of Grand Theft Auto, which recently announced a $12.7 billion acquisition deal that is expected to close in Q1 2023. .

Matt Wolf, speaking with Axios about the blockchain-based games offered by Zynga, said that the blockchain-based games planned by the company will be entirely new because it “doesn’t make sense” to immediately start adding NFTs to existing games such as FarmVille. He said the new games will be similar to Mafia Wars, a now-defunct social media game in which participants take on the role of gangsters and attempt to build their mafia family.

Wolf made it clear that the company’s game developers would always choose to accept or reject any NFT plan – a stance likely influenced by internal protests against the technology at other game companies, such as EA and Ubisoft. Despite the criticism, Wolf sees NFT and blockchain technology as the logical next step in Zynga’s progression, with tokenized systems allowing gamers to experience new, more realistic forms of creating value, ownership, and wealth.

Their goal is to expand Zynga’s audience reach and improve engagement and retention by developing an immersive gaming experience for their players. When looking at how gaming communities view token-based systems more broadly, Zynga needs to take a more aggressive stance in the blockchain-based gaming space than many other gaming companies because features related to cryptocurrency have frequently garnered backlash from rabid gamers. According to some gamers who have included NFTs in their gaming experience, companies are simply looking for new ways to monetize their customers.

About the company

Zynga Inc. is an American social game developer based in San Francisco, California. The company was established in April 2007 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. The company focuses in particular on mobile and social media platforms. Zynga’s mission statement states that it is committed to “connecting the world through games”. Zynga launched its most popular game, FarmVille, on Facebook in June 2009, and within six weeks it surpassed 10 million daily active users (DAUs). Zynga had 30 million monthly active users as of August 2017. (MAU). In 2017, its most popular games were Zynga Poker and Words with Friends 2, which combined for approximately 57 million concurrent users; and CSR Racing 2, the most popular racing game on mobile devices. Zynga began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on December 16, 2011 under the symbol ZNGA.