Tag: zynga mobile games

Storm8 surpasses 10 million daily users for its games

| January 25, 2013

Storm8 mobile gaming surpasses 10 million usersStorm8 reaches major milestone in mobile gaming

Mobile gaming is quickly becoming a field that cannot be ignored. While much of the game industry continues to hold a strong focus on traditional platforms, some developers are adopting an exclusive focus on the mobile space, producing games that are designed specifically for mobile devices, such as smart phones and tablets. Storm8 is one such company. The developer was founded by former Facebook engineers who had a strong passion for games and the company has recently been making waves in the mobile gaming space.

Developer catching up to the dethroned Zynga

Zynga, the former champion of mobile gaming, recently announced that it saw 33 million daily active users in July of 2012. While this is somewhat lower than what the developer had seen in previous years, it shows that Zynga still holds a strong grip on mobile gaming, even amidst its downfall. Storm8, however, is catching up very quickly. The developer recently announced that it has reached the 10 million daily active users milestone.

Social games mark success for developer

Storm8, which was founded in 2009, has developed a variety of mobile games that have garnered a massive fan base. Like other companies involved in mobile gaming, Storm8 tends to design games to be addictive and provide instant, or near-instant, gratification. These games are generally easy to get involved in and require a modest time investment to see any reward. While gamers do not have to spend hours playing Storm8 titles, they typically do because these games have strong ties to social networks, encouraging community more so than solitude.

Developer finds success despite lack of funding

Storm8 is somewhat unique in the game industry, especially in the mobile sector, in the fact that it has not yet taken any funding from investors. With the poor performance of Zynga in public markets and the rapidly evolving nature of the funding landscape, investors are showing more caution in regards to the ventures they support. Storm8 has little to worry about, however, as the developer has managed to etch out significant success without having to rely on the investments of outside parties.

Zynga confronts crisis with major overhaul

| December 29, 2012

zyngaZynga aims to recover from trouble through re-structuring

Once mammoth mobile and web game developer Zynga has hit a very rough patch recently. The company, which is behind some of the most popular online games in the world, such as Farmville, saw its stocks crash in recent months, falling 85% from its all-time high. Zynga has been a formidable name in the mobile gaming space for years, but has been confronted with problems that may be forcing the company to re-structure and re-consider its focus on social gaming.

Developer cuts 150 jobs as part of overhaul

Over the past several months, Zynga has seen lackluster performance with many of its games. This month, the company cut 150 jobs in an effort to save itself from financial ruin and to prepare itself for a major overhaul. The overhaul is being loosely dubbed as Zynga 2.0, but it is unlikely that the game development company will stray far from its mobile gaming roots or risk breaking new ground by developing games that may not find success. Ironically, this is part of the problem that lead Zynga to its current crisis.

Developer targeted by EA in copyright lawsuit

Zynga has long been criticized in the game industry, as well as others, for its focus on quick-to-market mobile and social games that are almost identical to well-established, successful games that come from major developers like Electronic Arts. The similarities between these games are so striking that Zynga has found itself in the midst of a copyright lawsuit from Electronic Arts, which claims that the company blatantly stole and used concepts from one of its popular games. While Zynga may have etched out some early success with its approach to gaming, this success garnered the company with a great deal of attention that it may have wanted to avoid.

Overhaul may bring Zynga back to the top

Despite the myriad problems that Zynga is facing, the company’s popular games still boast of a massive following. Farmville 2, for instance, claims some 45 million monthly active unique users. Zynga has seen less success in its mobile gaming ventures and the launch of other titles, but the company may be able to pull itself back from serious crisis if it can adopt a more quality-centric development formula.