Zynga Poker Update Delayed

By Brian Cullingworth, Last updated Aug 15, 2014

Social gaming firm battles declining player interest and revenues

The once mighty US social gaming firm Zynga has cut its earnings forecasts and delayed the launch of the much publicised upgrade for Zynga Poker and other games after worse than expected quarterly results and declining player interest.

Revenues for the second quarter fell 33.5 percent to $153.2 million, with revenue for the six months ending June 30 down 35 percent to $321.3 million.

Year-on-year, the firm saw its active player numbers shrink from 187 million to 130 million, and now anticipates that deferred revenue for 2014 will be in the range $695 million to $725 million, substantially lower than the previous guidance of between $770 million and $810 million.

News of the disappointing results and consequences triggered a 9 percent fall in the company's share price this week.

The upgraded poker software and other games, including new mobile offerings from subsidiary Natural Motion, will now be delayed, possibly for months, judging by a Reuters report quoting chief executive Don Mattrick, who suggested that the expected revenues from these games would be moved to the 2015 financial year.

On the bright side, Zynga's deal with the US National Football League represents the promise of a new mobile game titled NFL Showdown in the future, and there is talk of a new mobile game based on top international golfer Tiger Woods.

Online Casino News Courtesy of Infopowa

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