UPDATED 12:15 EDT / MARCH 22 2012

Zynga Acquires “Draw Something” Maker, Grantoo Lets You Play For College Tuition

There’s plenty going on in the social gaming sector these days.  With the launch of Rovio’s Angry Birds Space, gamers have a lot to take in, such as Zynga’s acquisition of Draw Something maker, and a bunch new games primed for a social, mobile marketplace.

Zynga Acquires “Draw Something” Maker

Zynga Inc., maker of popular social games on Facebook, acquired OMGPOP Inc., the company behind the popular game Draw Something.  The deal was for approximately $200-$250 million, making it Zynga’s largest buy to date.

The acquisition will not only add potential ad or in-game sales revenue, it will also grant Zynga access to OMGPOP’s huge audience, broadening their networked titles and overall reach.

Draw Something has been downloaded over 35 million times since its release six weeks ago, and boasts 15 million daily users.

Zynga has another fruitful partnership.  Last February, Zynga and Slingo Inc. launched Zynga Slingo, which features the core gameplay of classic Slingo that people across the world have come to love, where players spin and match numbers to fill the card and win big.  Since its launch, Zynga Slingo has 1.83 million daily active users.

Sliced Bread Games

Sliced Bread Games, an independent game design and publishing company based in San Francisco, CA, announced the arrival of its first social/mobile title: Sliced Bread.

The goal of the game is to slice up a variety of pastry and dough delights – everything from bagels to cookies, waffles to challah bread, with a swipe of the finger.  Every slice is equivalent to a point, and multiple slice combos give additional points.  It features two game modes: Extreme Baking and Pastry School.  In Extreme Baking mode, players have 90 seconds to slice as much bread as they can before time runs out, while in Pastry School, apprentice bakers need to slice as much bread as they can without slicing any of the evil Angry Fruit or breaking eggs – otherwise, it’s game over! Players will earn points during gameplay that can be converted into dough to purchase new slicers, bonus breads, hilarious powerups, and kitchen upgrades in the item store.

“Sliced Bread is a culinary mobile game masterpiece leaving players hungry for more each time they play”, stated the Chief Baking Officer. “We are using the intuitive screen swipe design combined with our own unique humor and art to create a sincere and scrumptious game. We believe our games will be the greatest thing since, well, sliced bread.”

Sliced Bread is available for $0.99 for the iPhone and iPod Touch while Sliced Bread HD is available for $1.99 for the iPad.

Face-to-face online poker game nears completion

Game Face Gaming, Inc. successfully demonstrated their ability to deliver a new and unique online social gaming experience to their legal non-wagering online gaming platform.  FaceUp Gaming allows players to see one another and speak live during game play.

“The Beta trials have been most informative and have provided invaluable information and feedback from the over 2,000 individuals that have signed up and are playing on the site,” said Game Face Gaming CEO Felix Elinson.

“We are rapidly approaching the end of Beta, and have made upgrades and tweaks based on user comments and feedback. We are extremely excited with the results to date and feel that we’re just about ready to complete this phase and make the platform available to the public. A decision on release will be made in the coming days. I am also pleased to announce that the Company has filed its annual report on form 10k, a full ten days early, with the Securities and Exchange Commission.”

Play for education and charity

Grantoo, a social gaming platform where everybody wins, announced a new platform that allows college students join online tournaments that would earn them money for college tuition.

“Playing our fun games earns you prizes.  Winning our tournaments scores you educational grants. Plus, you have the opportunity to give to your favorite charities. We reduce the burden of your tuition bills and increase the reach of your philanthropy.”

Grantoo reaches out to gamers who spend hours each week in playing video games with their friends.

“Grantoo helps you put your gaming time to better use: We’ve partnered with national brands to sponsor innovative gaming tournaments geared towards helping college students and the causes they care about. With Grantoo, you get to steer: you pick a charity and pledge a meaningful share of your winnings to that cause,” as stated on their website.


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