Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) is deploying more talent on so-called midcore combative games in a hope to end the declining fortunes. The struggling game maker expects to reshape the company’s future by focusing on the mobile segment that is dominated by the new studio players.
CEO Mark Pincus said in an interview “We could probably say that we have more working against new games in midcore than any other category.” The company has shifted many of its “vast and most seasoned game makers” to this segment, the CEO added.
Zynga Struggling
The move is expected to deliver higher revenue for Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA), which presently is engulfed with all sorts of problems with no clear solutions. In the last year, the stock price of the game maker has plunged around 60 percent and is trading around $3.40, well below the IPO price of $10 per share.
For the first quarter, revenues were down to $264 million from $321 million a year before; also Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA)’s monthly active users fell 13 percent over the same period. For the second quarter, the company expects a net loss ranging from $26.5 million to $36.5 million.
As a part of restructuring, Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) is also closing its unprofitable ventures like The Ville, Empires & Allies and Dream Zoo. The game maker has closed 18 titles in the last six months.
A hint of success
Zynga came out in April with its “first of a barrage of planned midcore titles,” i.e. War of the Fallen. The game maker is still focused on its more casual titles, launching Draw Something 2 in April. Also, the company launched Running With Friends, last month. The game took the top spot on Apple’s iOS on May 15.
According to the CEO, these are positive signs resulting from the shift in strategy.
Also, War of the Fallen, a card battler, received positive reviews for the iOS app. The company wants to optimize on a general rule that in a multiplayer game people tend to pay more for virtual goods than in more casual games. As per Pincus the monetization is around 15 times “what we’ve seen across our With Friends titles on a per-player basis.”
Zynga’s Big test ahead
Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA)’s turnaround plans will revolve around its games Battle-stone that was launched in May and Solstice Arena, which came out recently. The performance of these games will be closely watched and will be a big indicator in ascertaining the company’s success or failure in midcore. Other midcore games from Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) are expected to come out by the year end.
