Zynga Acquires “Words With Friends” Developer Newtoy

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Zynga Inc. today announced it has acquired Texas-based mobile game development company Newtoy, Inc., makers of the popular Games With Friends franchise that includes mobile games such as Words With Friends and Chess With Friends. The Newtoy headquarters in McKinney, Texas will become The Zynga With Friends Studio, a new game studio that leverages the popular franchise and builds new games for the Zynga network. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

“The Games With Friends franchise is the best social game experience available on mobile today and we are excited to welcome the Newtoy team to the Zynga family”

"The Games With Friends franchise is the best social game experience available on mobile today and we are excited to welcome the Newtoy team to the Zynga family," said Mark Pincus, founder and CEO of Zynga. "The Zynga With Friends Studio will continue to invent great mobile social game experiences for Zynga users everywhere."

Newtoy CEO and co-founder Paul Bettner immediately assumes the role of VP and GM of The Zynga With Friends Studio, reporting to David Ko, senior vice president of mobile at Zynga. Bettner will lead the team to develop new mobile social games for the Zynga network that leverage the company’s rich experience and creative game development environment.

"We're reinventing the way people are social on their mobile devices," said Paul Bettner, VP and GM of The Zynga With Friends Studio. "The Zynga With Friends Studio will build on the Newtoy legacy of creating approachable, highly social games that are accessible to anyone from anywhere."

This acquisition continues to extend Zynga’s global footprint, creating more opportunities for Zynga to connect the world through games. Today's announcement follows on the heels of the recent release of Zynga's Mafia Wars and FishVille games onto the Yahoo! platform. Zynga's most popular game, FarmVille, recently launched on both the iPhone and the iPad and Zynga Poker will be the first Zynga game launched on Android. The company also recently announced its next game, CityVille, which is available now on Facebook in French, Italian, German, Spanish and English.

Founded in 2008 by brothers Paul and David Bettner, alongside chief operating officer Michael Chow, Newtoy has been focused on building high-quality entertainment experiences on mobile platforms. Newtoy has developed some of the most popular mobile social games in the world and its Games With Friends franchise is the most popular gaming platform on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, with millions of monthly active users playing more than an hour each day.

“Zynga is committed to providing the best of breed mobile game experience and we expect The Zynga With Friends Studio to deepen our bench of seasoned veterans and broaden our scope of mobile game development," said Ko. "The mobile industry is still in its infancy and we're excited about the opportunity ahead of us."

About Zynga Inc.

Zynga Inc. is the world’s largest social game developer with more than 215 million monthly active users playing their games which include FarmVille, FrontierVille, Mafia Wars, Zynga Poker, Café World, Treasure Isle, YoVille, FishVille and PetVille. Zynga Inc. games are available on a number of global platforms including Facebook, MySpace, Yahoo, the iPad and iPhone. Through Zynga.org, Zynga players have raised more than $5 million for world social causes. Zynga Inc. is headquartered in San Francisco. For more information, visit www.zynga.com or www.zynga.org.

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