Who knew virtual farming could be so lucrative?
Well, many people in the social gaming space know that Zynga is sort of a big deal, but how big took some people by surprise today as the company filed for a $1 billion Initial Public Offering (IPO) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). As the filing has begun to circulate, everyone is just beginning to do a teardown of the company’s supplied info. (You can read the official forms here.)
TNW points out that the filing paints a strong picture except for one major Achilles Heel for the company: Facebook. It’s no surprise that Zynga relies heavily on Facebook to maintain its revenues, but the degree to which Facebook was detailed in the filing- where Zynga indicates their business would be ‘harmed’ if:
- Facebook discontinues or limits access to its platform by us and other game developers;
- Facebook terminates or does not renew our addendum;
- Facebook modifies its terms of service or other policies, including fees charged to, or other restrictions on, us or other application developers, or Facebook changes how the personal information of its users is made available to application developers on the Facebook platform or shared by users;
- Facebook establishes more favorable relationships with one or more of our competitors; or
- Facebook develops its own competitive offerings.
Other areas Zynga admits weakness include mobile- but offerings like Words With Friends and Hanging With Friends are catching on pretty quickly. Do you use any Zynga products regularly? What do you think of Zynga’s rapid rise?
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