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Zynga grabs 'Draw Something' game - six weeks old - in $200 million deal

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By Noel Young, Correspondent

March 22, 2012 | 2 min read

Just six weeks after the mobile game "Draw Something" was released, Zynga has pounced to buy the firm behind it for a sum said to be around $200 million.

Draw Something: $200 million deal?

Zynga, the largest maker of social games, didn't hang about as the new smash-hit game from New York games firm OMGPOP drew 35 million downloads. On Facebook, the game already has 22 million followers, It will be the San Francisco games company's largest acquisition to date.

OMGPOP has developed dozens of titles since it was founded 2006, a year before Zynga - but none took off like "Draw Something."

In the game, players draw images on their mobile phones based on selected words and their friends guess what they are.

Zynga Chief Mobile Officer David Ko described the game as a "cultural smash hit". It became an instant favourite for him and Zynga Chief Executive Mark Pincus, he told Adweek.

But Ko said the talent of the firm's developers was also, as you might say, a big draw.

Zynga said Draw Something was the No. 1 word game in 84 countries, according to data from data from Apple's app store .

OMGPOP began as the website Iminlikewithyou.com, which let people flirt with each other online and playfully "bid" on people, while playing games.

OMGPOP Chief Executive Dan Porter will now oversee Zynga in New York, where his team will remain in place

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