News that Zynga has joined the online gaming market seemed like a lifeline for the company in the wake of struggling financial news. The company will launch a real money gambling service in the UK within the first half of 2013. The online gaming move was cemented with the striking of a partnership with online gaming operator bwin.party that successfully operates PartyPoker and PartyCasino rooms.
Zynga has been discussing plans for an online gaming venture for some time now, believing it to be a natural progression for their social gaming business. The popular game Farmville is expected to be re-launched as a slot game for real money under bwin.party’s operation. The deal with bwin.party is expected to be the first step of Zynga’s plans to further expand into online gaming.
The deal was important for Zynga as reports on their financial earnings hit the news on the same day. The company lost over $50 million after expenses and taxes for the quarter, which CEO Mark Pincus suggested was in part because of their failure to retain customers.
“We didn’t create enough new heat for our players by innovating on content and features.”
Looking ahead the company has plans to become a top online gambling brand in its partnership with bwin.party. The company has also acquired game developer A Bit Lucky which CFO David Wehner believes will provide them with mid-level gamers interested in further online gaming promotions.
“We view this as a first step into real money gaming, and we believe that it’s a good first step. But it’s only a first step toward what we think is a large opportunity for Zynga.”
