Zynga was founded in 2007 by Mark Pincus and achieved early success through social games on Facebook like Zynga Poker and Words With Friends. They pioneered the "freemium" model where games were free to play but players could spend money on virtual goods. This drove large audiences and revenue from heavy spenders. However, Zynga became too reliant on Facebook users and offered too many similar games. When Facebook changed its platform and players lost interest, Zynga struggled. After leadership changes, Zynga has rebounded by expanding to mobile, acquiring successful games, diversifying its catalog, and focusing on player retention.

1. INDIVIDUAL: Lessons of the Past
Zynga
Ronald Alunan IXD Creative Founder F2019
Startup Origin Story

5. https://venturebeat.com/2011/12/12/zynga-history/ Ronald Alunan IXD Creative Founder F2019
Mark Pincus
Founder and Former CEO of Zynga in 2007
Worked in
Venture Capital
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Pincus
Founded 4 Start ups before Zynga
Freeloader
Support.com
Tribe.net
Investing
Mark was the key investor in Zynga and they were
able to fund themselves by achieving market fit and
a novice gamer.

6. Highly Popular Game on Facebook
Zynga Poker
Mark found a market fit with Zynga
connecting social with gaming as
web games on Facebook.
Other games followed, such as
Mafia Wars, and the popular
Words For friends.
Zynga’s games were free-to-play or
“freemium” where players were able
to pay for virtual goods to enhance
gameplay.
https://www.businessinsider.com/zynga-revenue-analysis-2011-9 Ronald Alunan IXD Creative Founder F2019

7. https://www.businessinsider.com/zynga-revenue-analysis-2011-9 Ronald Alunan IXD Creative Founder F2019
Virtual Goods
In this free-to-play Market, users
were able to spend money to
enhance their game play.
The free-to-play market drew in large
audiences and generated sales from
small groups of people who spent
large amounts of money.
They were able to achieve product
market fit by connecting Facebook
users to games that they could play
together with their Facebook friends.

8. https://www.businessinsider.com/zynga-disaster-timeline-2012-12
Zynga’s Crash
of 2012
● Zynga at their peak was still codependent on
Facebook’s user group.
● As ad prices became more expensive, talent
leaving Zynga for competitors.
● Facebook was making it harder for Zyngna to
benefit from its users and players began to
leave.
● Developers were not excited about the
halfhearted games in the pipeline.
Within 6 months,
Zynga had lost
10-15% of their
company’s value
at 10 billion
dollars.
Ronald Alunan IXD Creative Founder F2019

9. https://venturebeat.com/2019/02/09/how-zynga-completed-its-turnaround-and-plans-for-39-growth-in-2019/
Hows Zynga
in 2019?
● 93% of their market is Mobile now.
● They are acquiring successful game companies
like Puzzle Dragons.
● Expanding through acquisitions.
● Expanding teams internationally because there
is talented mobile developers and franchises.
With Mark
stepping down,
and replaced by
Frank Gibeau,is
turning it
around for
promise.
Ronald Alunan IXD Creative Founder F2019

10. Current Molecule
● Zynga declined because they offered
too many games of a similar style.
● Much like how Atari failed with
a flood of games.
● Unable to adapt to Mobile Market with.
● Expanding by acquiring
successful games.
● Reaching out in different game markets
grows their user base.
● More developed and polished games
keeps players playing.
Mobile
Gamers
Game
Diversity
User
Retention
https://venturebeat.com/2019/09/19/steam-labs-gets-even-more-experiments-and-updates-to-aid-discovery/ Ronald Alunan IXD Creative Founder F2019