Social gaming news roundup: Zynga, MegaZebra and Japan

Analysts say Zynga must add nine million new DAU per quarter - Industry analysts Cowen and Company have calculated than in order to maintain its current DAU count across its business, Zynga must add at least nine to 10 million DAU every quarter -- approximately 100,000 new users every day -- to outpace the number of DAU lost quarterly. According an interview on Gamasutra, Zynga’s games lose about 18.4 percent percent of DAU each quarter. Japan gets mobile social games platform for adults only - Japanese video distribution company DMM has launched its own mobile social network featuring pornographic social games according to Japanese industry watcher Serkan Toto. DMM is a leading Japanese producer of adult video content. Namco Bandai: free-to-play damaging game industry - Gamespot is reporting that Olivier Comte, Namco Bandai’s SVP for Europe has come out swinging against the free-to-play model, saying games that follow the model aren’t high quality, and that low-cost games lower the perceived value of games, ultimately harming publishers. Sterne Agee: Zynga loses $150 to acquire every new paid customer - According to Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia, Zynga has spent $120 million on new player acquisition so far this fiscal year, or $150 for every new paying customer according to his interview with Develop. 513 million internet users in China - Penn Olson is reporting that China now has 513 million citizens online. According to the latest data from the China Internet Network Information Center, 38.3 percent of the country’s population now uses the internet. MegaZebra appoints Godager and Goeldner to board - Munich-based social game company MegaZebra has appointed European video game industry veterans Gaute Godager and Jürgen Goeldner to its board of directors. Gaute Godager was a co-founder of Funcom. Japanese social games market to be worth $4.4 billion in 2012 - Japanese market research firm Yano is predicting the Japanese social game industry -- driven mainly by mobile social game companies like DeNA and GREE -- will be worth $4.4 billion in 2012. Zynga moves towards online gambling - Zynga has confirmed what many already suspected, telling All Things D that it looking into real money gambling. The company is currently is undertaking “active conversations with potential partners to better understand and explore this new opportunity.” While Facebook does not currently allow real-money gambling on its platform yet, the company will soon in regions were it is legal. Final Fantasy Brigade has half a million users - Square Enix’s first mobile social game based on the Final Fantasy franchise is now live on DeNA’s Mobage network for both feature phones and smartphones. According to Andriasang, the game already has more than 500,000 users. GREE buys stake in Mobicle for mobile social game development - GREE has bought a 6.8 percent share in Korean game company Mobicle. The two companies will co-develop a variety of mobile social games that will be available globally in the second quarter of 2012. Nexon licenses Unity - Tokyo-headquartered gaming company Nexon has signed a deal to license Unity’s game development platform, reports Develop. According to a statement from Nexon, the company will be using Unity to develop multi-platform content. [Launch] University of Washington releases Facebook game - The University of Washington Bothell has released its first Facebook game. Called UWB Wetlands Restoration, the game was created by undergraduate students and 100 percent of the proceeds go to restoration of the real UW Bothell wetlands.

Social Pro Daily

Social gaming news roundup: Zynga, MegaZebra and Japan

Kathleen De Vere

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Kathleen De Vere