Zynga's David Ko opens up about Zynga's mobile publishing plans

When Zynga announced its mobile publishing program at June's Zynga Unleashed event, details about the program were left vague. Recently, Zynga CMO David Ko talked to us about the program, unveiling some details about what developers can expect to get out of partnering with Zynga and what Zynga itself is looking for. The mobile publishing scene is crowded these days, with groups like EA, 6waves, Activision and even Konami working with third party developers to put out titles for iOS and Android devices. According to Ko, this means developers are the ones who ultimately win. Zynga has two assets at its command to tempt developers into the program: the sheer size of its network and the fact that it's willing to teach developers how to successfully implement social mechanics in a mobile title. “We have a network that’s curated today around mobile gaming," Ko explains. "We’re really focused on the social aspects, so if a developer wants to learn about social, we’re the best to learn from on both mobile and web.” The company is still keeping quiet on the actual details about what the revenue share is like and whether or not it's negotiable, but we now know the program will vary depending on the situation. "Our partnership program is not one-size-fits-all," Ko tells us. Instead, the program will have different tiers with different revenue models, and Ko says they won't be different from other publishing deals in the industry. Third-party titles will receive similar promotion to Zynga's own games. Ko says the titles will be part of the Zynga network and, as such, will be cross-promoted like internal titles. Ko also says there are more details to come regarding the advertising and promotion of Zynga's published games. Ko says Zynga doesn't have a specific number of developers it's looking to work on publishing with. "We just opened our doors to everybody," he says. The reason for this open door policy is because Zynga is treating its new partners program as an opportunity to add games that would appeal to gamers outside the company's core audience. "We can't hit every type of genre, but we know our players want to play different types of games," he says. "I'm open to having as many developers as we can, big and small." As a result, Zynga is keeping an eye out for developers who are "diamonds in the rough," with solid IP that might not otherwise be discovered on the mobile market. Developers interested in working with Zynga can learn more information here. This article originally appeared on our sister site, Inside Social Games.

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Zynga's David Ko opens up about Zynga's mobile publishing plans

Mike Thompson

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