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With $10 billion float ahead, Zynga brings in the shock troops: a game where people perish

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By The Drum Team, Editorial

June 2, 2011 | 3 min read

In the cosy world of FarmVille, the worst that can happen is that your crops wither. Now in a new war game, Empire and Allies, troops can "perish forever". As a Zynga chief puts it, "We wanted there to be consequences."

Described as an online version of a toy soldier set, players work out how to command and conquer their virtual game boards. Unlike other Zynga games such as FarmVille and CityVille, however, troops can "perish forever" in battles in Empires & Allies.

"With this game, we wanted there to be consequences," Amer Ajami, Empires & Allies' executive producer, told the Los Angeles Times. "We wanted people to care enough so that the losses would sting a little, but not so much that they would quit the game."

The decision to to have battles in which troops can die is a "modest gamble for Zynga" says the Times. In the past fans have liked Zynga games because its players rarely lose.

Every month, one out of 10 people worldwide on the Internet plays one of Zynga's 55 games,including FarmVille, Zynga Poker and Mafia Wars. About 250 million people play each month, four times the population of Britain. Zynga is by far the biggest social games presence on Facebook.

In Empires & Allies, players expand their island nations through conquests and by finding allies. They can only get so far on their own. To really get ahead, they need friends to jump in, for example, by helping repel invaders. "Empires expands us into the strategy and combat genre," said Chris Corry, general manager of Zynga's studio in Los Angeles (pictured). Most people play for free but when frustration sets in, they can shell out for game cards that let them advance faster or obtain virtual goods. Between 3% and 5% of Zynga's 49 million "daily active users" spend real money on the game or sign up for a promotion. At just one cent a day - $3.65 a year - that is roughly $180 million a year. There is also money from ads and sponsorships . But the audiences are fickle and Zynga developers make constant tweaks to the games to keep the players coming back. FarmVille, even now only two years old, was once Zynga's top game, with 84 million players. Today it has just under 45 million players a month. CityVille, launched in December, got up to 101 million monthly players earlier this year. It' s now "down" to 90 million monthly players. "Essentially what Zynga does is roll its players on from one game to the next," said one expert. So that's why Zynga is counting on its fans to sign up for military service with Empires & Allies.
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