Zynga Wants to Know If Fans Will Pay to Play Its Games
(Bloomberg) -- Zynga Inc., the pioneer in free-to-play mobile games, is considering offering monthly subscriptions to popular titles such as Words With Friends as a way to boost revenue.
Chief Executive Officer Frank Gibeau said Wednesday in an interview that customers who sign up would get extra content. He also sees a role for Zynga titles in the online gaming platforms being rolled out by companies such as Google and Apple Inc.
“Streaming as a distribution technology is going to be here and it's going to be big, whether it's subscription or free-to-play,” he said.
Zynga, based in San Francisco, reported first-quarter sales grew to $265.4 million, ahead of Wall Street projections of $242.4 million. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, deprecation and amortization totaled $75.5 million and also beat analysts' estimates.
Shares of Zynga rose as much as 11 percent to $6.13 in extended trading. The stock was up 40 percent this year through Wednesday's close.
The company lifted its full-year revenue guidance by $50 million to $1.2 billion due to the strength of recently acquired games such as Empires & Puzzles and Merge Dragons!, Gibeau said.
Zynga expects second-quarter sales of $280 million, above Wall Street forecasts, and adjusted Ebitda of $62 million, compared with analysts' estimates of $56.4 million.
To contact the reporter on this story: Christopher Palmeri in Los Angeles at cpalmeri1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net, Rob Golum
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
-
Talking Points This Week: Tech Nerves, FII Buying, And A Faraway Banking Shock
The global markets are not shining this Diwali. The exception in the large markets is, India.
-
Midterm Rally Lasted A Day. The Hard Reality Of A Divided US May Last Two Years | Opinion
Between a contested AI boom, a debt ceiling that arrives in 2027 and a president with every incentive to act alone, the next two years may prove more volatile than the first day's rally suggests.
-
Blue Wave Will Derail the AI Trade but Won't Dismantle the AI Era | Unhedged Position
The Democrats' sweep of the US Congress will see politics collide with economic forces both over the long and short term.
-
It's Time To Take The GST Council's Bet On Trust Global
Payment records can prove India's services exports, and clear, proportionate rules can bring foreign digital sellers into the tax net.
-
Opinion | India at 38: From Innovation Overperformer to Innovation Powerhouse
India now has 453 VC-backed deep science startups, 18 of them late-stage, after 117 percent growth since 2020. Laurus Labs, at USD 9.3 billion, is the most valuable deep science company in any middle-income economy outside China.
-
Navigating Energy Crossroads: S Jaishankar's Call For Diversified Supply Chains At G20 Ministerial Meeting
As geopolitical fault lines continue to test maritime trade routes and commodity flows, Jaishankar's message remains pertinent: true economic resilience requires open markets, protected transit lines, and a genuine commitment to multilateral cooperation rather than coercion.
-
Indians Are Travelling, But Not Every Journey Is A Holiday | The Week In Whys
Pilgrims, patients and working women are the real travellers, and the system hasn't quite caught up with them.
-
Getting To Work Costs Women More | The Reason Why
It is not just about women paying more than men. It is about women paying much more in cities than in villages.
-
AI Bias In Investing Cannot Be Eliminated, But It Can Be Governed
Framing is a particularly important example as identical financial information presented in terms of gains rather than losses can lead an LLM to reach a different assessment.
