We all know that Zynga's games generate a lot of money, but the company just revealed some information that will probably surprise many social gamers: it's the oldest games that prove to be the biggest moneymakers.
Over at Forbes, Dave Thier has written a negative article on Zynga entitled, "Why Zynga is Doomed."First of all, great article title. I'm jealous. Secondly, all is not doom and gloom in the world of Zynga. They just raised $1 billion and Mark Pincus and Zynga was on Rock Center with Brian Willams on NBC last night (for the 100 or so people who watch that TV show).But, Mr. Thier does raise one really good point about Zynga's future prospects.
Mafia Wars 2 and Ravenskye City are two different answers to the same problem: how do you follow up a successful social network game? There are any number of choices. You could keep pumping the game full of new content, you could create large-scale expansions, or you could launch all-new sequels or spin-offs. But which choice is the best?
Zynga has been releasing new games at a furious pace, but it doesn't look like it's slowing down any time soon. The developer has announced four new games, across Facebook and mobille, including the latest "Ville" game and its first foray into the world of hidden object games.
Yesterday's launch of Mafia Wars 2 on Facebook was big news for Zynga, but even bigger seems to be the news that the game has now come to Google+ a mere 24 hours later. As a network that's been slow to add new games to their roster, getting a brand new big name release at launch is something of a coup for the growing platform - and it definitely seems to say something about Zynga's hopes for Google+.
Just in case the imminent release of Mafia Wars 2 on Facebook wasn't enough to get your crime juices flowing, Zynga has announced another new entry in the role playing series with the mobile spin-off Mafia Wars Shakedown.
Mafia Wars 2 is expected to have a much more engrossing story than its predecessor, and to prove it Zynga has released a free digital comic set in the game's crime-filled universe.
Zynga isn't known for creating sequels to its franchises, but that's changing with the announcement of Mafia Wars 2, the sequel to the early Facebook RPG Mafia Wars. The sequel transplants the series into a 3D world for the first time ever, though it looks to maintain the same empire building formula.