Zynga was worth $11.5 billion in March, and is tailing Activision Blizzard

And it has soared past EA's $6.35 billion. In its most recently revised S-1 filing to the Security and Exchanges Commission (SEC), Zynga wrote that its valuation was at $11.5 billion in March of this year, TechCrunch reports. The FarmVille maker made a number of other revisions to its filing for IPO, or when the company will become available for public trade on the stock market. This means that Zynga is worth almost twice as much as EA, the veteran video games publisher responsible for iconic hardcore game franchises like Madden and Battlefield.

Not to mention it means that Zynga likely still intends to file for IPO, which many expect will raise another $1 billion for the company and boost its valuation to up to $20 billion, amidst a recent stock market plunge and shrinking confidence. This puts Zynga just under Activision Blizzard, the publisher known for the Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero series worth $12.17 billion, according to NASDAQ. Keep in mind, that this number is from five months ago. And is Zynga was just $500 million or so beneath Activision then, it could arguably be worth more than the company right now based on how fast it has grown.

However, valuation is based on a numerous amount of factors that contribute to market perception of a company's worth, and not necessarily actual net worth (as is market cap). In addition, the company might have made itself even more attractive to investors, writing that just 63 percent of its revenue comes from its top three games, CityVille, Empires & Allies and FarmVille. Compare that to four years ago, when 93 percent of its revenue came in from its top games.

The main takeaway here is that A. Zynga seems to have no intention of backing out on its IPO, which is said to happen this fall, and B. Zynga is worth lots and lots of money--possibly more than the most valuable games company in the world. I honestly thought I'd never see the day ... no, I'm not crying. Someone must be cutting onions in here. You can read the full SEC filing right here, if you want to be bored to tears.

EA, Playfish developing 'the hell out of SimCity' for Facebook [Report]

Hey, if The Sims Social struck gold, it only makes sense at this point. Business Insider reports, citing nameless sources, that a China-based Playfish team has suspended all other projects to "develop the hell out of SimCity" for Facebook. Of course, the idea is that the second place developer is doing so to go toe-to-toe directly with CityVille, the number one game on Facebook.

Zynga's city-builder has held the top spot on Facebook for over a year, and EA is reportedly doing everything in its power to dethrone the king of social games. According to Business Insider, multiple sources within the company say that SimCity has been in development for over a year, around the same time that Zynga started work on CityVile. But when the game broke every record in the book over the past year, EA had no choice but to ramp up work on SimCity.

At the time, Zynga had more time and resources to pour into CityVille than EA did with SimCity, which had "doubled down" on The Sims Social. Since the game has now proven itself, putting a dent into Zynga's then spotless lineup, the veteran games publisher has placed a laser focus on the social iteration of game designer Will Wright's masterpiece.

According to the news outlet, Playfish's Norway and San Francisco teams are working on entirely new games for EA. And yes, it's OK to be more excited by that rumor than yet another city-builder. This better be good.

[Via IndustryGamers]

Are you excited by the thought of SimCity hitting Facebook? Do you think it could give CityVille a run for its (boatloads of) money?

EA, Playfish developing 'the hell out of SimCity' for Facebook [Report]

Hey, if The Sims Social struck gold, it only makes sense at this point. Business Insider reports, citing nameless sources, that a China-based Playfish team has suspended all other projects to "develop the hell out of SimCity" for Facebook. Of course, the idea is that the second place developer is doing so to go toe-to-toe directly with CityVille, the number one game on Facebook.

Zynga's city-builder has held the top spot on Facebook for over a year, and EA is reportedly doing everything in its power to dethrone the king of social games. According to Business Insider, multiple sources within the company say that SimCity has been in development for over a year, around the same time that Zynga started work on CityVile. But when the game broke every record in the book over the past year, EA had no choice but to ramp up work on SimCity.

At the time, Zynga had more time and resources to pour into CityVille than EA did with SimCity, which had "doubled down" on The Sims Social. Since the game has now proven itself, putting a dent into Zynga's then spotless lineup, the veteran games publisher has placed a laser focus on the social iteration of game designer Will Wright's masterpiece.

According to the news outlet, Playfish's Norway and San Francisco teams are working on entirely new games for EA. And yes, it's OK to be more excited by that rumor than yet another city-builder. This better be good.

The Sims Social celebrates launch of Sims 3 Pets with free virtual poster

Dogs, horses and cats, oh my. Because life is better with pets, The Sims maker EA has launched an expansion pack today for players that allows pets to take center stage in the game. Helping promote this launch is a free virtual poster offered to fans of The Sims Social.

You can grab The Sims 3 Pets Poster by clicking here, after you become a fan of the game's official Facebook fan page.

Aside from looking cool, the poster takes up two tiles of wall space and adds 100 House Value points to your home. If you don't like it, it can be sold for 150 Simoleons. It also comes with one action, "Learn More", which sends you to the Sims 3 Pets website when you click on it.

Facebook gaming's fat cats will only get fatter, unfortunately

Companies like Zynga and EA (with the help of Playfish and PopCap) have long dominated the Facebook game scene. Sadly, it looks like that's not going to change anytime soon, according to a report released by Lazard Capital Markets. Basically, the report comes to the conclusion that, because they've already achieved critical mass, Zynga and EA will continue to rule Facebook games.

The report is based on meetings with six privately-held social game makers, including CrowdStar, Digital Chocolate, Funzio, HeyZap, IGG, and Tapjoy, according to All Facebook. "We acknowledge that toughening competition on Facebook could constrain margins and is generally negative for the space; however," the report reads, "we believe that rising user acquisition costs could be relatively positive for companies like Zynga and Electronic Arts that have already built large user bases on Facebook and disproportionately benefit from network effect and, therefore, may have an advantage over the newer companies in the space."

In other words, Zynga and EA will always competitive advantage over even relatively large companies like CrowdStar simply due to the fact that these companies already have created massive internal networks of players. This is exactly why no other company could release a game that amasses 5 million players in six days like CastleVille. The smaller developers' response?

Look elsewhere, basically. But when the majority of social gamers hang out on Facebook, where else is there to look? It's quite the predicament that the industry faces, especially considering the implications it could have as far as creativity is concerned on the platform. Developers will continue to create games that attempt to emulate Zynga and EA's wild success, and the copycat syndrome will persist. If the indie's time on Facebook is over, then all the hope we have for successful games that test the limits of the genre is for the players to grow tired of 'Ville after 'Ville.

Are you sick of the current stable of popular Facebook games? What new approaches or genres would you like to see on Facebook?

The Sims Social celebrates fans with a week of free stuff

Free stuff? Yes, please, I'll take some of that! With almost 61 million players (and climbing), the folks at EA / Playfish have a lot to be thankful for when it comes to the Sims Social on Facebook. As a way to thank their ever-growing player base for their support (even when the game suffered from some nagging loading and gameplay issues), the developers have launched a week long celebration involving free stuff that will be given away, apparently on a daily basis.

To start, we're given a gift of Social Points - a whopping 400 Social Points at that. Since your other methods of earning Social Points normally come in small increments (of 10 or less per action) when visiting friends, this really is a substantial prize. Remember, these Social Points work as a form of third currency in the game, and can be used to purchase exclusive decorations or other home items that aren't available through any other method or currency.

We've also been told that we'll be able to increase our land size in the future, although that wasn't exactly announced in as many words. To be specific, we're asked if we "need more space to build your dream home" and that with that question comes a secret that the developers just couldn't hold in anymore. We're even asked "If you could expand your land, what is the first room you'd build on it?"

Put two and two together here, and you're left with the answer that land size will soon be increasing, although no particular release date was announced (unfortunately). If you're like me, your home has already filled most nooks and crannies of land in our admittedly small square, and is surrounded by outdoor goodies to boot. Being able to increase the size of our house plot is a huge deal, and we'll make sure to let you know when that feature / ability launches as soon as it does.

In the meantime, keep checking back with the game's Facebook fan page for additional links / announcements of free prizes, and click right here to claim your free 400 Social Points.

What sorts of prizes are you hoping to receive in this week-long event of free stuff? What will you purchase with your 400 free Social Points? Sound off in the comments.

Playfish says goodbye to Hotel City, My Empire and four more games

Playfish games shut down
The Sims Social might have dethroned the mighty FarmVille, but its success may have cut into Playfish's other Facebook games and sent them to a speedier doom, too. On August 30th, the word went out in the official Playfish forums that Hotel City, My Empire, Who Has The Biggest Brain?, Geo Challenge, Word Challenge and Bowling Buddies will be getting axed Sept. 30.

We used to cover Hotel City back in the day (the game first launched on March 26, 2010) and can remember when it was a big deal. The game was well made and had once held an all-time high of 13 million monthly players and 3 million daily players. Right now, it's at 1.4 million monthly players and about 100,000 dailies, ranking it the 9th most-played Playfish and EA game on Facebook. But it's clear that won't be enough to save it.

Hotel City's popularity is followed closely by Bowling Buddies, Word Challenge, then Geo Challenge. Finally, far beneath them all on the social games ladder are Who Has The Biggest Brain? and My Empire. Though, at least one player suspects it may not be all about numbers, because Country Story currently ranks 10th behind Hotel City. But there's been no announcement to shut it down (yet).

Are you going to miss any of these Playfish games? Care to start a betting pool on the death of Country Story? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment