Zynga with Friends

Zynga with Friends
Subsidiary of Zynga
(Formerly Private)
Industry Video game industry
Predecessor Ensemble Studios
Founded 2008
Texas (as Newtoy, Inc.)
Headquarters McKinney, Texas
Key people
Paul Bettner (founder)
David Bettner (founder)
Michael Chow (founder)
Products Chess with Friends (2008)
Words with Friends (2009)
We Rule (2010)
Hanging with Friends (2011)
Scramble with Friends (2012)
Matching with Friends (2012)
Gems with Friends (2012)
Stampede Run (2013)
Number of employees
N/A
Subsidiaries N/A

Zynga with Friends (formerly Newtoy, Inc.) is a video game developer founded in 2008 by brothers Paul Bettner and David Bettner, and their cousin Michael Chow. It is one of the four game developers that was formed after the disbanding of Ensemble Studios, the other three being Robot Entertainment, Windstorm Studios, and Bonfire Studios, which has since been acquired by Zynga and renamed Zynga Dallas.[1] In November 2008, Newtoy, Inc. released its first known game for the iPhone and iPod touch, Chess with Friends, an online game released for the Apple App Store.[2] Later, in August the following year, it released its second known game for iPhone and iPod touch, Words with Friends, another online game with a format almost exactly identical to Scrabble, which ultimately became their best known game.[3] In November 2010, the company was acquired by Zynga for $53.3 million,[4] and was rebranded as Zynga with Friends in December 2010. Newtoy was the fourteenth company to be acquired by Zynga during its peak years.[4]

After nearly two years since the company's previous game release, Zynga with Friends released its third game for iPhone and iPod touch, Hanging with Friends, on June 9, 2011, followed by Scramble with Friends the following year.[5] Attempting to capitalize on the breakthrough success of Words with Friends, Zynga re-launched Zynga With Friends as a stand-alone social network in June 2012.[6] By the autumn of that year, it was clear that the Zynga With Friends social network had not been a success; the Bettner brothers left the company as Zynga's stock price plummeted.[7]

Games

Release
Date
Title Genre Latest Update Date Version Platform
November 2008 Chess with Friends Strategy April 4, 2014 4.19 iOS (6.0 and later)
August 2009 Words with Friends Strategy
Puzzle
January 25, 2014 (iPad)
April 9, 2014 (iPhone)
6.60 (iPad)
7.22 (iPhone)
iOS
February 2011 July 12, 2012 4.92 Android
March 2010 We Rule Simulation

RPG

September 14, 2012 1.51 iOS
June 2011 Hanging with Friends Strategy April 3, 2014 4.45 iOS
September 2011 May 9, 2012 4.54 Android
January 2012 Scramble with Friends Strategy
Puzzle
Word game
May 14, 2014 (iPhone)
January 22, 2014 (iPad)
4.4.2 (iPhone)
1.06 (iPad)
iOS
January 2012 August 14, 2012 4.73 Android
June 2012 Matching with Friends Strategy
Puzzle
21 April 2014 4.24 iOS
September 2013 September 10, 2013 4.92 Android
August 2012 Gems with Friends Strategy
Puzzle
January 14, 2014 4.19 iOS
January 2013 Stampede Run
(formerly Running with Friends)[8]
Endless runner May 6, 2014 2.42 iOS
November 2013 November 22, 2013 1.54 Android

References

  1. "Newtoy | About". newtoyinc.com. Retrieved 2010-03-18.
  2. Snow, Jean (November 14, 2008). "Halo Wars Devs Form iPhone Game Studio | GameLife | Wired.com". wired.com. Retrieved 2010-03-18.
  3. "Newtoy releases Words with Friends 1.0 for iPhone and iPod Touch". prmac.com. Retrieved 2010-03-18.
  4. 1 2 Takahashi, Dean (2011-07-05). "Zynga paid $53.3M to buy Words With Friends mobile game maker Newtoy". Venture Beat. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
  5. Moscaritolo, Angela (2012-01-06). "Zynga Launches Scramble With Friends App". PC Magazine. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
  6. Geron, Tomio (2012-06-26). "Zynga Unleashes 'Zynga With Friends' Platform For Real-Time Gaming". Forbes. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
  7. Takahashi, Dean (2012-10-05). "Words With Friends co-creators leave Zynga". Venture Beat. Retrieved 2016-10-25.
  8. "Zynga rebrands Running with Friends to Stampede Run, introduces single player mode". Inside Mobile Apps. 2013-11-29. Retrieved 2013-12-11.
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