Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) CEO Mark Pincus said that notwithstanding recent industrial trend where video game developers have preferred mobile devices, he would continue to focus on web-based platforms.
Lately, videogame industry observers have emphasized that the need for video game developers to switch over to mobile devices platforms as more and more internet users are spending time on smartphones and tablets instead of personal computers.
Zynga’s stock has been under pressure amid growing concerns that the company relies way too much on Facebook’s (NASDAQ: FB) platform. Shares are almost 50% lower than its IPO price of $10, in December.
Pincus, while addressing an industry conference recently in San Francisco said that although it was fairly “obvious” most companies were investing heavily on mobile platforms, the company was determined to keep its emphasis on web-based platform, since there is ambiguity on how the mobile industry will mature in the future. For instance, there is still confusion over whether the Adobe Air or HTML5 Technologies will become more acceptable standard in the mobile-based platforms, according to Pincus.
However, he also stressed that the company itself spent $183 million to acquire New York-based game studio OMGPOP in March.
The company made over $1.1 billion in revenues in 2011 through titles such as CityVille and FarmVille, both made on Facebook platforms. It was estimated that about 223 million monthly active players were hooked to these games in 2011.
In an attempt to move away from its over-dependence on Facebook platform and to generate more revenues, Zynga announced in June that it would start its own platform to encourage independent developers to build games on Zynga’s own network.
Pincus also said that the company is all set to roll out new set of games: “The Ville,” a Sims-like social game, and “ChefVille,” a kitchen management game.
In order to develop new offerings, Zynga appointed over 100 developers who worked over one and half years, said Pincus.
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