Take-Two, the mega-publisher best known for publishing the library of Rockstar Games and the Borderlands franchise, has purchased Zynga for $12.7 billion.
According to Venture Beat, Take-Two is buying Zynga, the mobile and social game publisher, at $9.861 a share. “I’m excited to be here today to usher in what will be a transformative moment for Zynga and Take-Two’s players, employees, and shareholders, Frank Gibeau, CEO of Zynga, said on a call with industry analysts.
Strauss Zelnick, the CEO and chairman for Take-Two, said the following. “This strategic combination brings together our best-in class console and PC franchise, with a market-leading, diversified mobile publishing platform that has a rich history of innovation and creativity.”
Zynga is best known for mobile/social games such as Words with Friends, FarmVille, and CSR Racing 2, apparently one of the most popular mobile racing games ever. Take-Two has plenty of marquee franchises of their own. Many of them, however, are not presently being utilized.
Talking from a purely speculative angle, you have to wonder what this means for those dormant IPs. Take-Two mentioned that this purchase would allow them to take more franchises to the mobile game market. In addition, there is a recent trend in gaming of “AAA” mobile releases also coming to consoles.
The upcoming Star Wars: Hunters will release on iOS, Android, and Nintendo Switch. Hunters is, ironically, developed by Zynga. There is a trend to bring these games, which were previously mobile-only, onto consoles, and the opposite; Fornite and PUBG all exist on mobile, with indications of the same coming soon for Warzone.
After this news, a mobile version of Grand Theft Auto Online from Take-Two seems like a sure bet. Maybe with the money it will make, they can help make Grand Theft Auto 6 a reality.
Maybe.
