author: Miriam Moszczynska
Take-Two Buys FarmVille Devs for Record Amount
Zynga is joining the studios gathered under the wing of Take 2 Interactive. The company has acquired the U.S. mobile game developer for $12.7 billion.
- Take 2 Interactive has acquired Zynga for a record amount of $12.7 billion;
- This puts Take Two in a leadership position in the gaming industry for both PC and console and mobile games;
- At this time, no information has been provided on any new title to be developed under the supervision of the two companies.
Take Two has acquired American mobile game developer Zynga. The amount that the company responsible for the Grand Theft Auto series and Sid Meier's Civilization spent on this purchase was as much as 12.7 billion dollars. Thanks to this transaction, Take Two no longer dominates only the console and PC market, but also becomes a giant of mobile platforms.
“We are thrilled to announce our transformative transaction with Zynga, which significantly diversifies our business and establishes our leadership position in mobile, the fastest growing segment of the interactive entertainment industry,” said Strauss Zelnick, Chairman and CEO of Take-Two
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Zynga is the company responsible, among others, for the development of the FarmVille series, CSR Racing, Empires & Puzzles, Golf Rival, Hair Challenge, Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells, High Heels!, Merge Dragons!, Merge Magic!, Queen Bee, Toon Blast, Toy Blast, Words With Friends and Zynga Poker. The first of the aforementioned titles gained a lot of popularity on Facebook, and since then there have already been several installments of this game that are available on mobile devices. Frank Gibeau sees only advantages in this transaction and believes that by joining forces with Take Two he will be able to provide players with even better titles that will reach a much larger audience:
“Combining Zynga’s expertise in mobile and next-generation platforms with Take-Two’s best-in-class capabilities and intellectual property will enable us to further advance our mission to connect the world through games while achieving significant growth and synergies together.”
It is worth mentioning here that the merger of the companies in question is the largest transaction of this kind that has ever taken place. Even Tencent, the conglomerate dominating the gaming industry in China, paid less by acquiring Supercell (the developer of, among others, Clash Royale). This is what the ranking looks like (via Shanti Bergel):
1. | $12.7 billion | Take-Two acquires Zynga |
2. | $10.2 billion | Tencent acquires Supercell |
3. | $7.5 billion | Microsoft acquires ZeniMax |
4. | $5.9 billion | Activision acquires King.com |
5. | $ 4 billion | ByteDance acquires Moonton |
6. | $2.5 billion | Microsoft acquires Mojang |
7. | $2.4 billion | Electronic Arts acquires Glu |
8. | $2 billion | Meta acquires Oculus |
What can we expect from the Take Two and Zynga merger? Another version of GTA V, but for smartphones? Or Red Dead Redemption 2 in augmented reality (AR), because after all, who wouldn't want to run around with a phone and play cowboy? While such titles seem like pure abstraction, and no game have been announced along with the news of the deal, if you're a fan of the two brands - and like mobile games - you can definitely look forward to new projects in the future.