Zynga Could Have Been Microsoft’s Three Years Ago
Microsoft felt the need to
have Zynga’s Poker, Farmville, and Mafia Wars in its Xbox Game Line-up
In the wake of Zynga’s hiring of former Microsoft boss Don Mattrick,
controversies and criticisms about the two companies have been highlighted of
late. The biggest of which was released by news site Bloomberg
In its July 8 issue, the newspaper revealed that Mattrick allegedly spoke with
Zynga founder Mark Pincus to buy the company’s popular Facebook games like
Farmville and Texas Hold’em Poker. Citing a source who refused to be identified,
Bloomberg concluded that the idea was to bolster Microsoft’s Xbox lineup of
games.
A Zynga-Microsoft partnership could have been the biggest in the
industry had it gone through. Back in 2010, Zynga was the undisputed number one
Facebook game developer. They were the force to be reckoned with in the online
gaming market and a relationship with them would mean plenty of opportunities
for any company. On the other hand, Microsoft was starting to break away from
the boxed console competition after introducing a redesigned Xbox 360 and
Kinect, which became the Guinness Book of World Records’ fastest selling
consumer electronics device. Kinect sold a total of 8 million units in just two
months, while Kinect sold at least 24 million units in 2012.
Right now,
Zynga, though struggling, is still one of the top social media game publishers
in the world. The company continued to grow even bigger and was able to
introduce more titles, that are now regulars on various top Facebook games
lists. Zynga is now trying to conquer the real-money gaming industry. Real money
poker games are now being developed by the company. The social gaming giant
teamed up with Bwin Party Digital Enterainment for this project and will use
PartyPoker.com as the games’ platform. Aside from poker, Zynga also offers real-money casino
games.
Meanwhile, Microsoft seems to have forgotten that they used to be
after Zynga’s social games. They have moved on, however, and were even able to
introduce several exclusive titles like the Assault Heroes 2, Beautiful
Katamari, Gears of War, and Halo Wars. The American firm also produced the Xbox
One, a new console that is way better than previous Xbox consoles.
Well, the deal seems to have happened anyway. Zynga now has Don
Mattrick as its new CEO. Mark Pincus, who will remain as Zynga’s chairman and
chief product officer, believes that hiring Mattrick will turn the tides for the
company, citing the former Microsoft boss’s huge role in the development of game
franchises like Need for Speed, FIFAand The Sims.
