Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) has been struggling in the mobile game market for awhile now, which is why the company has been trying to re-strategize. One of those moves involves rebooting hit games. Zynga already launched a new version of Farmville. Now the company launched a new version of Words With Friends for iOS and Android devices.
Highlights of the revamped game
Words With Friends first launched five years ago as a virtual game of Scrabble. Like all Zynga games, this was a social app that allowed people to play with their friends. It is currently the all-time top free game on Apple’s App Store. It boasts a total of players participating in 7.7 billion games.
According to Jonathan Knight, the Vice-President of Games for Zynga, claimed “We want more ways to play. They want the game to match their lifestyle. Mobile habits are changing. People want to play on their own schedule at any time.”
The Words With Friends revamp includes a more player-friendly design which includes Solo Play, a feature that offers the player a chance to play against a computer opponent. The feature also adjusts to the skill level based on player’s performance.
Yet another notable feature includes Community Matches which gives a more personalized take to help users find ideal opponents. Other smart features include a dictionary and Word of the Day. Game players will also have a personal profile with details of the games.
Changes at Zynga
This exciting overhaul is quite the change at Zynga, as the company got a new chief executive officer Don Mattrick. He took over in 2013. Although the overall market for mobile games has remained strong, Zynga still struggles. Some of the company’s problems can be attributed to game quality concerns, spam issues, and intellectual property concerns. A few critics noted the games ran on the same mechanics. One tech professor even called the games “cow clickers’ as such games require simple mouse clicks with no challenges.
Another downside with Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA) games was the constant spamming. Most of the games required players to post messages to non-players for game benefits. This prompted complaints from non-players.
