Take-Two Interactive, the company responsible for franchises such asBorderlandsandGrand Theft Auto, has made plans to acquire Zynga, most known for its mobile games likeFarmVilleandWords with Friends. While the deal has yet to close, Take-Two is eagerly making plans for the future.
Take-Two Interactiveplans to buy mobile developer Zynga for $12.7 billion. Should the deal follow through, it will be the highest price for an acquisition in the video game industry, topping even Microsoft’s move to acquire ZeniMax Media and Bethesda for $7.5 billion. Moreover, it will likely mean plenty of changes and new opportunities for Take-Two franchises.
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A Renewed Focus on Mobile Gaming
Whentalking about the company’s acquisition of Zynga, Take-Two CEO, Strauss Zelnick, highlights how it will help Take-Two gain a greater foothold in the mobile industry. Zelnick then goes on to explain that combining Zynga’s expertise in mobile gaming with some of Take-Two’s titles will enable both entities to create better games and reach much larger audiences.
This acquisition is a big deal, as it likely means that Take-Two will be putting more focus on mobile gaming. In fact, the company hasalready discussed plans to create more mobile games. Titles such asCivilization,Max Payne,andNBA 2Kare likely to have mobile releases with the help of Zynga developers. Additionally, Take-Two is open to the idea of new mobile games based on its current titles. Note that while Take-Two has already migrated some of its games to mobile platforms, the help from industry experts like Zynga could up the quality of its mobile ports.
The Rise of Mobile Gaming
It’s clear that Take-Two has taken strides to invest in mobile gaming. However, it isn’t the first company to do this. Developers across the gaming industry have also been putting more focus on mobile gaming, leveraging existing titles to gain more traction in the community. For example, Activision has openly stated thatmobile gaming is its priority. The company has the widely popularCall of Duty Mobileunder its belt, with reports ofDiabloandWarcraftmobile games being in development.
Aside from this, Electronic Arts also made a similar acquisition earlier last year.EA bought out Glu Mobile, which is known for mobile titles likeDiner DashandWWE Universe. When asked why, EA responded that the new acquisition would assist in growing the company’s roster of mobile game titles — particularly in the sports genre.
The growing focus on mobile gaming comes a no surprise, given how profitable the mobile gaming market is. To put things in perspective,PUBG Mobile was the highest-grossing gameof 2021, with a revenue of $2.8 billion. That means the game was generating around $7.4 million every day from players all around the world. No wonder video game developers find it so lucrative.
Overall, Take-Two Interactive’s acquisition of Zynga means yet another leading video game company is shifting gears to prioritize both “traditional” gaming (that is, console/PC gaming) and mobile gaming. Not many gamers in the community may be eager about this shift, considering that mobile games are notorious for being of lower quality compared to their console/PC counterparts —with a number of mobile game exceptions. Still, only time will tell if Take-Two will achieve its goal of making better mobile games.
