There's A Major Flaw In Zynga's Plan To Fix Itself

Zynga has a plan to fix itself that involves becoming a more mobile-focused company and putting more resources behind the "With Friends" brand.
It has no choice but to figure out mobile. Zynga's mobile users are growing three times faster than its web users. Meanwhile, Zynga's Facebook users have dropped 16% from last year to Q2 this year.
But creating more "with friends" branded games might not be the smartest strategy. Zynga has only ever had one real success in that category, Words with Friends. The rest of its attempts have gone bust.

Words With Friends currently has about 5.7 million daily active users (DAUs), according to AppData. But every social game it has launched since, Hanging with Friends, Scramble with Friends and Matching with Friends, have petered out.
"None of those games are or have been successful," a source close to the company says. "Scramble DAU is down almost 50% over several months and Matching With Friends couldn't hold on to #1 spot for more than two days."

Zynga has tried replicating its smash hits before without much luck. Farmville, which first put the gaming company on the map, has led to a slew of other "ville" attempts, like Castleville, Cityville, YoVille, PetVille and FishVille. Most have not been able to attract the same user-base as Farmville.
"The 'With Friends' network is the same strategy as ville games," says the source "Pick a franchise that has one hit and double down on the franchise as each game performs worse and worse."
What should really have Zynga concerned, and has gone unsaid by the Journal, and others, is that Zynga has never built its own successful mobile game. It bought Words with Friends. It bought Farmville. It bought Draw Something, which was a successful mobile game.
Even if it doubles down on a semi-successful brand, it doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be able to build a successful mobile game.

EA sues Zynga for copyright infringement

Electronic Arts is suing Zynga for copyright infringement, claiming the social gaming giant copied one of their games.
According to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in California, EA alleges Zynga's new Facebook game The Ville is an "unmistakable copy" of The Sims Social.
"The similarities go well beyond any superficial resemblance," says Lucy Bradshaw, general manager of EA's Maxis label, the creators of The Sims Social. "Zynga's design choices, animations, visual arrangements and character motions and actions have been directly lifted from The Sims Social. The copying was so comprehensive that the two games are, to an uninitiated observer, largely indistinguishable."
In a statement responding to the lawsuit, Zynga general counsel Reggie Davis says the company plans to "defend our rights to the fullest extent possible."
"It's unfortunate that EA thought that this was an appropriate response to our game, and clearly demonstrates a lack of understanding of basic copyright principles," says Davis. "It's also ironic that EA brings this suit shortly after launching SimCity Social which bears an uncanny resemblance to Zynga's CityVille game.
Unveiled in June, The Ville allows players to create avatars and "build the home of their dreams," designing the interior and creating avatars that socialize with friends.
The Sims Social, launched last August on Facebook, lets players create their own Sim and start virtual lives on the social network.
The lawsuit underscores broader accusations that Zynga rips off other games. For example, in January, Tiny Tower creators NimbleBit called out Zynga for its title Dream Heights, Joystiq reported.
"Good luck with your game, we are looking forward to inspiring you with our future games," said NimbleBit.
EA's Bradshaw says the publisher is "taking a stand" against Zynga and the allegations of copying.
"By calling Zynga out on this illegal practice, we hope to have a secondary effect of protecting the rights of other creative studios who don't have the resources to protect themselves."