Published: June 03, 2010
Zynga Acquires Challenge Games
SAN FRANCISCO - (BUSINESS WIRE) - Zynga today announced the acquisition of Austin-based social game
company Challenge Games. Effective immediately, the Challenge Games
office will become Zynga Austin, a game studio focused on product
development. Today's announcement expands Zynga's studio operations
adding to locations already in San Francisco, Baltimore, Los Angeles,
Bangalore, and Beijing. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
"Austin is an ideal location to extend our studio operations with its
rich talent in the games business," said Mike Verdu, senior vice
president of Games at Zynga. "We look forward to building out our Zynga
Austin studio with the best and brightest in the industry as we continue
to bring social games to more users worldwide."
Challenge Games' Co-Founder CEO, Andrew Busey, will become Zynga's
general manager and vice president of the Austin studio. The Challenge
Games team of 35 employees will be immediately integrated into Zynga's
workforce.
Challenge Games, backed by Sequoia Capital and Globespan Capital
Partners, launched in 2007 to focus on immersive Web game development
built on a virtual goods business model. Two of the company's most
popular games, Warstorm, a collectible card game set in a fantasy
universe, and Ponzi, a tycoon game, will be further developed by
the Zynga team.
Today's acquisition along with Zynga's recently announced partnerships
with Facebook and Yahoo! continues to extend the company's footprint
worldwide, creating more opportunities for Zynga to connect the world
through games. Recently, the company announced a promotion with 7-Eleven
where stores across the United States and Canada are offering special
promotional game gifts with Slurpees and other items.
About Zynga
Zynga has over 230 million monthly active users playing its games. These
games include FarmVille, Treasure Isle, Zynga Poker, Mafia Wars,
YoVille, Cafe World, FishVille and PetVille. Zynga games are
available on Facebook, MySpace and the iPhone. Through Zynga.org, Zynga
players have raised over $3 million for world social causes. Zynga is
headquartered in Potrero Hill in San Francisco. For more information,
visit www.Zynga.com
or www.Zynga.org.

Zynga
Lisa Chan, 415-706-1834
press@zynga.com
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