Zynga, best known for its mobile games like FarmVille, Words With Friends, and CSR Racing franchises, has announced plans to launch its first blockchain and NFT-based games this year.
“Yes, we’re a very successful mobile games publisher. But we don’t have any experience building Web 3 games. We’re getting it. We’re not learning until we’re publishing in that market.”
In Brief:
- To carry out its NFT games strategy, the company will acquire some blockchain firms and collaborate with others.
- Zynga anticipates that its first NFT games will be available by the end of the second quarter.
- Zynga is also planning to expand its blockchain gaming team from 15 to up to 100 employees by the end of this year.
In an interview with the Blockchain Chief of Zynga, Matt Wolf stated that it “makes sense” for Zynga to create original blockchain games from the ground up rather than updating an existing title such as Farmville.
However, Zynga’s intellectual property will be used to inspire some of the gameplay in the NFT titles. “Probably not Farmville right away, more along the lines of Mafia Wars,” Wolf said, referring to Zynga’s once-popular social network game in which players play as gangsters and build a crime organization.
Zynga has also announced plans to expand its current blockchain gaming team from 15 to up to 100 employees by the end of this year. Partnerships and acquisitions are part of the team’s expansion plans, which will keep Zynga’s position as a frequent buyer of game companies.
Zynga’s game will most likely be tailored to the interests of large-scale crypto holders or whales, with a yield focus rather than gameplay for entertainment.
“We don’t want to bring them something that they didn’t ask for, and we don’t want to assume that they want a super, super deep gameplay experience.”
Wolf has stated unequivocally that the company’s game developers will always be able to opt-in or out of any NFT plans.
“By creating an integrated experience that enables players to become owners in their gaming journey, our goal is to expand Zynga’s audience reach and drive stronger engagement and retention,” he added.
Blockchain/NFT games link in-game objects to unique IDs, which can then be bought or sold, giving games a real-world economic layer.
Hesitancy has been the common denominator from gaming studios although gaming companies like Ubisoft partner up with the Sandbox to initiate metaverse with the voxelized versions of Rabbids’ characters from Rayman.
