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Facebook and Zynga to end close relationship

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Facebook and Zynga to end close relationship

#21

Post by acgourley »

potatolicious wrote: post #5

This is a flesh wound for Facebook, but IMO will probably be lethal for Zynga. Without the "virality" (read: spamming) offered by Facebook their games have no hope of any sustainable user base. They can pivot into actual casual games (a la Popcap), but that space is already crowded and Zynga has no real advantage over anyone else, and plenty of disadvantages.

This doesn't change that much for Zynga, they've known for a while that it's mobile or bust for them, and all their acquisitions and movements show they've bet entirely on that.

Re: Facebook and Zynga to end close relationship

#22

Post by johnyzee »

tatsuke95 wrote: post #15
nicholassmith wrote: post #2

Could this turn out to be the nail in Zynga's coffin? Seems like investors are getting cold feet, staff reductions, and a general malaise seems to surround the brand. Losing that access as a key partner to Facebook and becoming just another user is going to force them to make very rapid changes to adapt.

I think the nail in the coffin was the last quarterly report. At this point Zynga is priced right around the liquidation value of the company. Nowhere to go but up (or out of business)! Long Zynga 2014 calls in the hope they pull off a miracle of online gambling.

Somehow online gambling seems like a great fit for Zynga.

Re: Facebook and Zynga to end close relationship

#23

Post by [deleted] »

pekk wrote: post #19
michaelochurch wrote: post #12

I name this Praziquantel Day. (Praziquantel is a drug used to kill tapeworms.) This is very, very good for Facebook. They are upgrading their brand and image by doing this. The major reason Google+ Games did not succeed is that preferential treatment was given to mainstream developers (e.g. Zynga) who didn't expect us to thrive and therefore gave us their second-string stuff, as opposed to indie developers who would…

Facebook gave preferential treatment to Zynga too, so that can't be the reason Google+ Games did not succeed. Perhaps it is more relevant that Google+ is not widely used and those who do use it are less likely to be into things like Farmville (demographics).

[deleted]

Re: Facebook and Zynga to end close relationship

#24

Post by sbov »

pekk wrote: post #19
michaelochurch wrote: post #12

I name this Praziquantel Day. (Praziquantel is a drug used to kill tapeworms.) This is very, very good for Facebook. They are upgrading their brand and image by doing this. The major reason Google+ Games did not succeed is that preferential treatment was given to mainstream developers (e.g. Zynga) who didn't expect us to thrive and therefore gave us their second-string stuff, as opposed to indie developers who would…

Facebook gave preferential treatment to Zynga too, so that can't be the reason Google+ Games did not succeed. Perhaps it is more relevant that Google+ is not widely used and those who do use it are less likely to be into things like Farmville (demographics).

Facebook gave preferential treatment to Zynga only after they proved that they were the most popular. They had to fight their way there - it didn't start that way. It's still a bit dangerous to do so though because users' tastes may change, so good on Facebook for removing their special status.

As you said, Google+ had no such information, and gave companies special status out the gate before proving their popularity. If Facebook did the same thing, their top apps would probably look a lot different.

Re: Facebook and Zynga to end close relationship

#25

Post by lukasb »

zerostar07 wrote: post #16

Facebook is also enforcing new terms for its developers: From December on, applications that run on external domains instead of appearing as an iframe inside facebook will be severely restricted in their access to facebook[1]. This move is supposed to force indie developers to move their games to facebook where they can't use AdSense (it's not allowed by facebook) and can only use facebook's own payments system (it's…

My reading is that those restrictions are only for games off Facebook, not all applications. Interesting that they would make that distinction.

Re: Facebook and Zynga to end close relationship

#26

Post by Roelven »

potatolicious wrote: post #5

This is a flesh wound for Facebook, but IMO will probably be lethal for Zynga. Without the "virality" (read: spamming) offered by Facebook their games have no hope of any sustainable user base. They can pivot into actual casual games (a la Popcap), but that space is already crowded and Zynga has no real advantage over anyone else, and plenty of disadvantages.

Agree, Facebook will easily recover but Zynga has a bigger blow to deal with. Already shows by their stock value dropping 13%.

Re: Facebook and Zynga to end close relationship

#27

Post by mandlar »

michaelochurch wrote: post #12

I name this Praziquantel Day. (Praziquantel is a drug used to kill tapeworms.) This is very, very good for Facebook. They are upgrading their brand and image by doing this. The major reason Google+ Games did not succeed is that preferential treatment was given to mainstream developers (e.g. Zynga) who didn't expect us to thrive and therefore gave us their second-string stuff, as opposed to indie developers who would…

I had completely forgotten about Google+ Games... Are there numbers on how many people are playing games on Google+?

Re: Facebook and Zynga to end close relationship

#28

Post by mathattack »

I can't see how this isn't the death knell from Zynga. Maybe I am missing something, but Zynga loses all their mass appeal. Maybe there is a self contained group that runs under the radar screen at their site, but they lose much of the social connection.

Facebook can find other game makers. There is no other Facebook for Zynga. Facebook also gets rid of some unwanted Spam.

Re: Facebook and Zynga to end close relationship

#29

Post by nicholassmith »

johnyzee wrote: post #22
tatsuke95 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the nail in the coffin was the last quarterly report. At this point Zynga is priced right around the liquidation value of the company. Nowhere to go but up (or out of business)! Long Zynga 2014 calls in the hope they pull off a miracle of online gambling.

Somehow online gambling seems like a great fit for Zynga.

Huge fit but with massively regulatory oversight, so they'd be at the whims of the regulators.

Re: Facebook and Zynga to end close relationship

#30

Post by [deleted] »

johnyzee wrote: post #22
tatsuke95 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the nail in the coffin was the last quarterly report. At this point Zynga is priced right around the liquidation value of the company. Nowhere to go but up (or out of business)! Long Zynga 2014 calls in the hope they pull off a miracle of online gambling.

Somehow online gambling seems like a great fit for Zynga.

[deleted]
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