Skip to main content

Zynga updates S-1 filing, reports internal valuation of $11.5 billion in March

If you are one of the 232 million people worldwide that build virtual farms or shore up virtual sorority houses, Zynga shareholders may eventually have a reason to thank you. Zynga has revised its S-1 filing with the SEC and provided some very healthy numbers about the business.

“In late March 2011,” the report stated, “[Zynga’s] board of directors determined that the fair value of our common stock and Series Z preferred stock remained $13.96 per share.” With the number of outstanding shares, this internal evaluation would mean the company is worth about $11.5 billion.

This is a company that was founded in July of 2007. And no doubt that number has grown since March.

Also of note were the reports of Zynga diversifying their revenue streams. Initially analysts were quick to note that the company depended too much on only three games and Zynga reports that figure was about 93 percent. Since 2007 that number has dropped to 63 percent.

Much of Zynga’s growth, as stated in the report and elsewhere, can be attributed to the explosive growth Facebook has seen in the past few years. As of June it owned the top five most popular games on Facebook.

The Apple App Store has also been a great platform. “Hanging With Friends” became the most popular game within a week of launch in June.

And perhaps, that’s the Achilles heel to monitor when assessing Zynga’s value: it largely depends on third party platforms. As Twitter developers have learned in the last year, that’s not always the strongest position from which to run a business.

Topics
Caleb Garling
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Bluesky barrels toward 1 million new sign-ups in a day
Bluesky social media app logo.

Social media app Bluesky has picked nearly a million new users just a day after exiting its invitation-only beta and opening to everyone.

In a post on its main rival -- X (formerly Twitter) -- Bluesky shared a chart showing a sudden boost in usage on the app, which can now be downloaded for free for iPhone and Android devices.

Read more
How to make a GIF from a YouTube video
woman sitting and using laptop

Sometimes, whether you're chatting with friends or posting on social media, words just aren't enough -- you need a GIF to fully convey your feelings. If there's a moment from a YouTube video that you want to snip into a GIF, the good news is that you don't need complex software to so it. There are now a bunch of ways to make a GIF from a YouTube video right in your browser.

If you want to use desktop software like Photoshop to make a GIF, then you'll need to download the YouTube video first before you can start making a GIF. However, if you don't want to go through that bother then there are several ways you can make a GIF right in your browser, without the need to download anything. That's ideal if you're working with a low-specced laptop or on a phone, as all the processing to make the GIF is done in the cloud rather than on your machine. With these options you can make quick and fun GIFs from YouTube videos in just a few minutes.
Use GIFs.com for great customization
Step 1: Find the YouTube video that you want to turn into a GIF (perhaps a NASA archive?) and copy its URL.

Read more
I paid Meta to ‘verify’ me — here’s what actually happened
An Instagram profile on an iPhone.

In the fall of 2023 I decided to do a little experiment in the height of the “blue check” hysteria. Twitter had shifted from verifying accounts based (more or less) on merit or importance and instead would let users pay for a blue checkmark. That obviously went (and still goes) badly. Meanwhile, Meta opened its own verification service earlier in the year, called Meta Verified.

Mostly aimed at “creators,” Meta Verified costs $15 a month and helps you “establish your account authenticity and help[s] your community know it’s the real us with a verified badge." It also gives you “proactive account protection” to help fight impersonation by (in part) requiring you to use two-factor authentication. You’ll also get direct account support “from a real person,” and exclusive features like stickers and stars.

Read more