Zynga founder Aims High: Wants to be Gaming's Google
You may not have heard of Zynga, but you have probably heard of one of its creations, Farmville. The founder of Zynga, Marc Pincus, 44, has high expectations for his firm, aiming, the New York Times says, to become the Google of gaming.
Notice that Pincus didn't say the Google of social gaming, although that's what the Zynga Game Network specializes in. Instead, he's aiming for games, period. Based on recent history, it's not out of the question. For example, Facebook needed 4 1/2 years to reach 100 million users, but Zynga required only 2 1/2 years.
Zynga recently received $520 million in financing, which included the funds from Google. According to anonymous sources, some of that cash was $300 million via two roughly equal investments from Softbank and Google.
The NYT also notes that Zynga's employee base has risen from 375 a year ago to 1,000 now, with 400 openings. Inside Network, which tracks Facebook apps, says Zynga is on track to make as much as $500 million in revenue this year.
Given all that, and considering Zynga's Internet presence (it's not going to build a game for a PC in the lines of Starcraft 2, after all), perhaps Google should acquire the company rather than investing in it.
What do you readers think? After all, Google wants to be all things Internet. It would, however, derail Pincus' goal of becoming the Google of gaming, and it would cost a pretty penny, too: Zynga's value has been estimated to be $4.5 billion.
Notice that Pincus didn't say the Google of social gaming, although that's what the Zynga Game Network specializes in. Instead, he's aiming for games, period. Based on recent history, it's not out of the question. For example, Facebook needed 4 1/2 years to reach 100 million users, but Zynga required only 2 1/2 years.
Zynga recently received $520 million in financing, which included the funds from Google. According to anonymous sources, some of that cash was $300 million via two roughly equal investments from Softbank and Google.
The NYT also notes that Zynga's employee base has risen from 375 a year ago to 1,000 now, with 400 openings. Inside Network, which tracks Facebook apps, says Zynga is on track to make as much as $500 million in revenue this year.
Given all that, and considering Zynga's Internet presence (it's not going to build a game for a PC in the lines of Starcraft 2, after all), perhaps Google should acquire the company rather than investing in it.
What do you readers think? After all, Google wants to be all things Internet. It would, however, derail Pincus' goal of becoming the Google of gaming, and it would cost a pretty penny, too: Zynga's value has been estimated to be $4.5 billion.
