Zynga, the creator of Farmville and Words With Friends, has revealed plans to enter the NFT industry.
Zynga, an American social game developer, intends to launch non-fungible token (NFT) games in the near future. Matt Wolf, Zynga’s vice president of blockchain, told the press that the company is currently analyzing the cycle and determining “where we want to jump in.”
Matt Wolf, Zynga’s vice president of blockchain, told the publication Axios on February 9, 2022, that the company plans to launch non-fungible token (NFT) games.
Mark Pincus, Eric Schiermeyer, Justin Waldron, Michael Luxton, Steve Schoettler, and Andrew Trader founded the social game developer Zynga in 2007. Zynga’s games became extremely popular after the company released Farmville on Facebook in 2009, with other hits including Zynga Poker and Words with Friends.
Wolf discussed the company’s NFT game goals with Axios contributor Stephen Totilo. Wolf stated that Zynga’s current blockchain team consists of about 15 people, with the company hoping to increase that number by 70-100 by the end of the year.
According to the vice president of Zynga’s blockchain sector, the “studio” is looking for senior employees, including a “tokenomics designer.” Wolf did not specify when the Zynga-created NFT game would be released, but he did say that the company was currently considering when Zynga would enter the NFT ecosystem.
“Things are frothy right now,” Wolf observed. “So we’re looking at the cycle and deciding where we want to enter, but we definitely have feelers out.”
Following the implementation of NFTs by gaming companies such as EA and Ubisoft, Wolf told Totilo that NFT-centric concepts in Zynga games will be optional. Zynga’s initial strategy is to target blockchain gamers who are already familiar with the NFT ecosystem.
“When they enter one of these products, they approach it as an investor or a whale, and they are interested in specific elements such as yield,” Wolf explained. We don’t want to bring them something they didn’t ask for, and we don’t want to assume they want a super, super deep gameplay experience, said Zynga’s blockchain executive.
Take-Two Interactive Plans to Buy Zynga
As previously stated, Zynga is falling behind when it comes to companies like EA and Ubisoft entering the NFT space. Other video game companies, such as Square Enix and Konami, are also venturing into the world of NFTs. Furthermore, current blockchain gaming leaders such as Axie Infinity, a play-to-earn (P2E) video game with $4.1 billion in total NFT sales since 2017, pose a threat.
Zynga may not know when it will enter the blockchain gaming world because the company is considering an acquisition. Take-Two Interactive, a New York-based video game holding company, announced plans to buy Zynga for $12.7 billion last month.
Disclaimer: These are the writer’s opinions and should not be considered investment advice. Readers should do their own research.
