Sony bought Destiny makers Bungie for an astonishing $3.7bn while $9.2bn changed hands for Take-Two’s purchase of social game publisher Zynga
This may have flown under the radar (I still see people on here talking about Zynga this, Zynga that…unless I am the one who has missed the post, in which case I apologise lol…) but, thanks to this info from my alliance mate SmellySocks, it appears that as at May 2022 Empires and Puzzles has new overlords in Take-Two games.
I will leave it to other wise heads to determine what this means for the game and what sort of style we can expect from em… (although it’s likely to just be more of the same given it’s already been 7 months?!)
The only notable change was the increase in mystic visions, they were pushing for more advertising revenue from Zynga early when they got Zynga to offset some of the declines in purchases overall (was mentioned in one of the earnings releases I listened to).
Edit: it also could be why we have seen more aggressive increases due to FX rates in various countries
That’s old news. It’s still Zynga this or that cos Zynga heads the Mobile gaming division and the brand name for all mobile games in the now enlarged Take Two Interactive entity.
That’s why it’s still Zynga this or Zynga that.
Take Two is the brand name for console and PC gaming.
I just checked again. Zynga is now the developer for EP on both Apple/Google platforms. No more SGG. Must have happened in the last few months.
Fare thee well, Small Giant Games.
As for changes in management, it’s still more or less the same. Money, money, money first. Player, after thought. Hence the escalation of hero releases. New portals (with event as an after thought).
More in-game offers. Zynga Web Store to increase profitability by reducing commission paid to Apple/Google.
It’s not unheard of for the acquiring parent company (eg Take Two) to set a new mandate, vision or strategy for the acquired target company (eg Zynga) which could lead to subtle or obvious changes in the target company’s products (eg E and P)
On the other hand, it’s also not unheard of for the parent company to leave everything “as is”.
I don’t have a clue as to either, hence my post as I’m curious to know.
(This could potentially be an example of a change from the upper management / parent company that trickles down to the game, cheers @Draerius)
(Old news indeed, the telltale sign is even in the date of one of my sources - May 2022. It’s still news to me though, having been out of the game since 2020 and only returning in Sept 2022)
See above.
I’m more curious to know if Take Two management has meddled with Zynga’s approach generally and/or to the game specifically (or not!).
We all know what bosses or upper management are like: many like to meddle and put in their two cents’ worth even if their approach practically achieves nothing or is actually detrimental to the existing state of affairs (not saying this has happened here; I merely want to know the facts)
I would seriously take with a pinch of salt the fact that Zynga heads the mobile gaming division as proof that Take Two has not changed anything - common experience dictates that the acquirer tends to want to know what their investments are doing and provide the relevant inputs / changes to spruce up their investment (of course this is not always the case as I’ve said above, sometimes the parent company is very hands off and does nothing)
TT focuses on console and PC gaming. Had intentions to enter mobile gaming. Decides to merge with Zynga to get head start since Zynga is one of the top mobile gaming developers.
If one doesn’t have any experience in mobile gaming, I don’t see why one would tell the one that has some experience what to do. But then I am not a fly in HQ flitting here and there, spying and more.
I will say that TT, as ultimate holding company, sets the profit/revenue forecast and assigns up to 50% of that forecast to Zynga to achieve. It’s then up to Zynga to achieve their allocated targets, while TT (operations) focuses on meeting theirs. Together, they will achieve 100% of what is forecasted.
I have shared previously in brief on other threads what the financial outcome has been for the last 2 quarters, which is driving the increased drive for money for the 3rd quarter that just ended, and will continue for the last quarter.
@BlackZed could you please direct me to those threads of yours? Maybe you have one, where you give regular updates on the topic? Thank you very much in advance!
