Zynga has more people working on new games than existing ones

So, that's what happened to Mafia Wars 2, eh? Let's not jump ahead of ourselves, but that's what Zynga COO John Schappert is telling potential investors as the company begins its IPO (initial public offering) road show. The company posted a video of the same presentation it is putting on for investors across the country--all 30 minutes of 51 mind-numbingly boring slides.

But there are some juicy bits to the talk provided by Zynga CEO Mark Pincus, Schappert and CFO David Wehner. (The video, which you can find here, is worth watching to see Mark Pincus talking to a teleprompter alone.) For one, five of the FarmVille maker's top executives come from second place competitor EA. And that doesn't even include former EA CCO Bing Gordon, who now serves on the social game giant's board.

After Pincus talked up his company's top games, Schappert took the stage and revealed that Zynga's games are only about one-quarter finished before they launch. This may be common knowledge to some players (ahem, FarmVille's beta period), but to hear that releasing technically unfinished games is part of the developer's core strategy is nevertheless surprising.

Later, Schappert dropped this bomb: The company has more people working on new games than existing ones. In other words, the developer has more staff focusing on games like CastleVille and upcoming games like Zynga Casino and Hidden Chronicles than, say, FarmVille and Mafia Wars and Zynga Poker.
Zynga execs
Granted, the company has nearly 3,000 employees, but it's odd to hear that the company is more worried about its new games than it is the games that have historically made it the most money--$1.5 billion in revenue in the past four years, to be exact. With games like Pioneer Trail and Mafia Wars 2 in decline, it makes one wonder exactly where the line between "new game" and "existing game" is drawn within Zynga.

Do you think this is where Zynga should be focusing the majority of its attention? Could this be the reason why games like Pioneer Trail are suffering?

Building the Cafe World Dutch Oven: Everything you need to know

While Cafe World has never been at a loss for cooking appliances, we've received yet another option to add to our cafes this week: The Dutch Oven. While it may not traditionally be a good idea to have a massive, open flame in your restaurant, here you're encouraged to do so, as you can use it to cook new recipes - Wild Game recipes, to be specific - once you've actually completed its construction.

To build the Dutch Oven, you'll need to collect four groups of building materials:

    7 Firewood
    7 Charcoal
    8 Cooking Tools
    8 Cast Iron Pans


The Firewood and Cooking Tools are earned through general news items you'll place on your wall, while the Charcoal and Cast Iron Pans are earned through individual requests sent out to neighbors.

Completing the Dutch Oven is part of the new Dutch Oven goal series, which contains 13 different goals for you to complete, as of this writing. You can only have one Dutch Oven in your cafe for right now (although that might change in the future), and unfortunately, you won't be able to earn parts to build the Dutch Oven from Special Delivery Boxes (again, this might change). You can only cook dishes unlocked through the Wild Game goal series, so make sure you start on those as soon as you can to actually give your Dutch Oven a purpose! Good luck!

Are you excited to get started building your Dutch Oven in Cafe World? What other appliances or cooking tools is the game still missing that you would like to see added?

CityVille New Year's Resolutions: Everything you need to know

While we've reached the point in the new year where many folks have already given up on their New Year's Resolutions, your citizens in CityVille are just now getting around to making some. For roughly the next two months, you'll have the opportunity to complete three sets of resolutions goals in the game, surrounding common themes (losing weight or going green, for instance). This feature has a setup similar to that of the Halloween Monsters or Save the Holiday events, in that each set of resolutions constitutes an "act," with each act having three goals.

Resolution 1: To Help Others

This resolution features the Boys and Girls Center community building, but you must complete the three goals one at a time.

Kids' Fun

    Place Boys and Girls Center
    Complete Boys and Girls Center
    Ask for 6 Hammers


The Hammers come from a general news item on your wall. The Boys and Girls Center requires 12 energy to complete the frame, and from there you'll need to collect buildings ingredients to finish it off. You'll need four each of Activity Schedules, Colored Fencing, Rope Ladders, Tire Swings and Pet Rabbits, with all of these items being available through either general news items on your wall, or through individual requests sent to friends.

When you finish this community building, you town's maximum population allowance will increase by 4,500, but it can be upgraded from there. For finishing the overall Kids' Fun goal, you'll receive the ability to upgrade your Boys and Girls Center to Level 2 by simply clicking on it.

Help Your Neighbors!

    Send 40 Tour Buses to Neighbors' Businesses
    Collect Rent from 40 Neighbor Houses
    Ask for 12 Power Drills


You'll need to visit at least 16 neighbors to finish off these two tasks, but the only thing stopping you from doing that in a single day is whether or not you actually have that many neighbors. When you finish this goal - no matter how long it takes you - you'll receive an upgrade taking your Boys and Girls Center to Level 3.

Help Wanted!

    Harvest Goods 15 Times in Neighbor Cities
    Revive or Water 15 Neighbor Crops
    Ask for 20 Paint Rollers


The Harvesting Goods task counts for harvesting both crops or unloading your friends' ships. For finishing this final goal in the Helping Others resolution set, you'll receive the final upgrade to the Boys and Girls Center, taking it to Level 4.
Resolution 2: To Live Healthier

This resolution features the Health Complex, a business that can be upgraded.

Let's Live Healthier!

    Place Health Complex
    Complete Health Complex
    Ask for 6 Exercise Bikes


You'll need to earn the Exercise Bikes from friends. Meanwhile, the Health Complex is a large business with a frame that takes eight energy to construct. You'll need to collect parts to completely finish this one: four each of Climbing Harnesses, Trampolines, Jump Ropes, Medicine Balls and Pool Filters.

When the Health Complex is done, you'll be able to operate the business for 500 Goods (to receive a minimum of 2,500 coins each time those Goods are used). When you complete this overall goal, you'll need to make sure your Health Complex is currently supplied, and can then click on the building to upgrade it to Level 2 as your reward.

Improve Your Diet

    Harvest 40 Cranberries
    Harvest 40 Carrots
    Ask for 12 Swim Goggles


Again, the reward for finishing this goal is another automatic upgrade of the Health Complex (this time to Level 3). You'll need to make sure your business is currently operating and can then click on the building to upgrade it.

Get Some Rest

    Collect from 60 Residences
    Collect from 60 Businesses
    Ask for 20 Tennis Balls


These can be any kind of home or business, so feel free to collect from those that generate rent or profits quicker than others if you'd like to finish this goal sooner, rather than later. When you do finally finish this goal (and the entire "Live Healthier" resolution line), you'll receive the final upgrade to your Health Complex, bringing it to a Level 4 business.

Resolution 3: Let's Go Green

This final resolution deals with lessening your citizens' impact on their virtual environment, and introduces the Common Green community building to the game.

Let's Go Green

    Place Common Green
    Complete Common Green
    Ask for 6 Swings


The Common Green is a community building with a base that takes 12 energy to construct. You'll need to collect building materials to finish it off: four each of Plumbing Pipes, Gazebo Roofs, Lawn Mowers, Park Tiles and Butterfly Feeders.

As with the other two buildings, these come from your friends (either through individual gift requests or general news items on your wall. When you finish the Common Green, your maximum population cap will go up by 4,500 citizens. For finishing this entire goal, you'll automatically earn an upgrade to Level 2 of the community building.

Take Out the Trash

    Collect 20 Scraps of Paper
    Collect 10 Empty Cans
    Ask for 12 Park Benches


The Scraps of Paper can be earned at random when collecting from businesses, while the Empty Cans can be earned randomly when collecting profits from community buildings. The Park Benches can be earned from friends. Finishing this goal gives you the upgrade to a Level 3 Common Green item.

Put Down Roots

    Collect 30 Bags of Soil
    Collect 30 Piles of Compost
    Ask for 20 Seedlings


The Seedlings come from friends, while the Bags of Soil and Piles of Compost can be earned at random from either harvesting crops or collecting rent from residences (respectively). Finishing this final goal in the Go Green resolution series pushes your Common Green to the Level 4 upgrade.
Again, these goals will only be available in the game until the end of February. That should give you plenty of time to complete all nine, but if not, keep in mind that there is no overall reward for finishing all three sets. Unless you're concerned with upgrading each of the three buildings to Level 4, don't feel the need to overwhelm yourself in order to get it done in time.

[Via: CityVille Wiki]

What do you think of these New Year's Resolutions goals in CityVille? Will you work on completing all three, or will you only finish one or two sets instead?

Zynga profits plummet 90 percent, raises questions about imminent IPO

Will the big show still go on? That's what many wonder, as Zynga just revealed in an updated regulatory filing that its profits dipped by 90 percent in the June quarter, thanks to increased spending and a lack of major game releases earlier this year, Reuters reports. According to the news service, this raises questions as to whether the company can sustain growth ahead of its long-awaited IPO (initial public offering).

Zynga's net income took a nose dive to $1.4 million from $14 million a year earlier, and its net profit plummeted over 90 percent in three months from $16.8 million in March of this year. Reuters chalks this up to the fact that the filing shows that the FarmVille maker's expenses rose $149 million compared to a year earlier, and $59 million alone from the previous financial quarter.

We'd imagine a major chunk of those expenses are thanks to the 14 companies Zynga gobbled up in the past year. It's also worth noting that the developer didn't really release any major Facebook games in 2011 prior to Empires & Allies. (And no, we're not counting FarmVille English Countryside.) Since then, however, the company has been on a frenzy, launching three more Facebook games this summer: Words With Friends, Pioneer Trail and recently Adventure World.

This news speaks volumes to the fact that Zynga has reached a point where it constantly needs to produce in order to sustain its meteoric growth, and more importantly for them right now, the faith of investors. Since the company's last filing, Zynga conducted a third-party analysis that estimated the probability of an IPO at 75 percent. This is down from the 80 percent probability reported in Zynga's previous filing.

In other words, it looks like the anticipated Zynga IPO could be delayed, just as previous reports suggested, to wait for improved market conditions. However, EA is gaining on the company with The Sims Social, and fast. According to AppData, EA and Playfish's game has just about 1.6 million fewer daily players than CityVille's 12.9 million.

Do you think Zynga has anything to worry about, given the news? Would you ever invest in Zynga if given the chance?

Welcome to the future: We predict big trends in social games for 2012

In 2011, social gaming turned out pretty much the way we thought it would. Mobile devices proved to be a fertile breeding ground for social games, FarmVille maker Zynga continued to get bigger, and we witnessed more than our fair share of advergames this year.

Now it's that time of year that we, once again, reshuffle our tarot decks and see what the next 12 months will hold for games of a social nature. And, even if the Mayan predictions about the world ending in 2012 prove true, that won't happen until December -- so everyone has plenty of time to get this stuff in under the wire.

facebook will be the #1 place to play social gamesFacebook will still be the #1 place to play social games

Facebook may (or may not) be losing users in the US, but it will still be the number one platform for social games this year. Google's social network needs to make its service much more user friendly to convince the change-averse general public (i.e. non-tech-heads) to make the move from Facebook.

Mobile social games suffer from a similar problem -- there are a lot of them out there, but there's not an easy way to play them with other people. Mobiles have three major game-based social networks duking it out for the top spot -- Apple's Game Center, OpenFeint and Mobage -- but it's hard to convince social gamers to join, especially when a majority of them don't consider themselves 'gamers.'

Facebook's strength continues to lie in the fact that its games are integrated into a larger social experience. People are already visiting the social network daily to uploading photos, write zingy status updates and commenting on friends' walls, what's the harm in spending a few minutes playing Bejeweled Blitz or checking in on the farm?

SimCity Social will go toe-to-toe with CityVille

Since launch, Zynga's city building game, CityVille, has maintained its position as the number one game on Facebook. There are several reasons for this: First, the game was simultaneously released in multiple languages, and second, there's something about building virtual cities that crosses any cultural, gender and generational divide. So when we heard reports that Electronic Arts is hard at work on making a Facebook version of its PC gaming mega-hit SimCity, well, we can't think of any other game more likely to topple CityVille from atop its perch. If the success of Sims Social is any indicator, SimCity Social (or whatever it's called) will be sitting pretty this time next year.

amazon kindle firePlay your game of choice on any device

One of the biggest problems in social game-dom is the fact that you have to be on a computer to play your games. Or on a mobile device. But you can't do both. And world that is quickly growing to embrace tablets, from the iPad to the new Kindle Fire, as a secondary computing device, it's annoying that we can't check in on our virtual people in The Sims Social whenever, wherever and on whatever.

2012 will be the year that someone makes this breakthrough. Why? Because it has to be. Companies like Zynga rely far too much on Facebook and must stop doing that for long term success. Technology is the main reason this hasn't happened yet, as in, you can't play Flash games on iOS devices. Flash-creator Adobe says it has come up with a workaround for that problem and many seem to be pinning their hopes on the platform agnostic HTML5 as well.

Social games with video game-quality graphics

Last year, we were certain that social games with 3D graphics, or what I like to call "video game quality" graphics, would be everywhere by the end of 2011. That didn't exactly happen, but we've got plenty good reason to believe that 2012 will -- for real, this time -- be the year of 3D games on Facebook and other social gaming outlets. Social games will continue to look and play better, and the addition of high falutin' 3D graphics is a natural next step. Second the technology to do it made major strides recently (though we're still dubious that Flash 11 can deliver games on par with those on Microsoft's Xbox 360 or Sony's PlayStation 3).

Do you think SimCity Social will beat out CItyVille in '12? What else do you see happening in social games next year?