Social game developer Zynga said it agreed to pay USD 525 million to Betta Games for Chinese mobile game developer StarLark, creator of "Golf Rival". Zynga said the cash and stock deal, expected to close in the fourth quarter, gives it access to a new creative talent pool in China.
Zynga also announced that its USD 250 million cash acquisition of Chartboost, a mobile programmatic advertising and monetization platform, was completed effective 04 August.
Alongside the news of its acquisitions, Zynga unveiled a 59 percent year over year jump in revenues to USD 720 million for the three months to June, a record for a second quarter period. Bookings totalled USD 712 million in the quarter, up 37 percent year-over-year.
The company made a net profit of USD 28 million in the second quarter, swinging from a loss of USD 150 million in the year-earlier period, while operating cash flow grew 11 percent to USD 161 million.
For the third quarter of 2021, Zynga expects revenue to decline on a sequential basis to USD 665 million and lower bookings at USD 660 million as new additions to the company's portfolio are offset by declines among certain existing games, notably older mobile and web titles.
Zynga also warned that the broader adoption of Apple’s privacy changes since late June may bring short-term pressure on advertising revenue and bookings in the three months to September.
The company expects to return to a net loss on a sequential basis at around USD 110 million in the third quarter when it will book a one-off charge of USD 82 million related to office moving costs. It sees adjusted EBITDA at USD 150 million, down from USD 174 million in the previous quarter.
For full-year 2021, Zynga expects revenue of USD 2.725 billion, bookings of USD 2.8 billion, adjusted EBITDA of USD 575 million and a net loss of USD 135 million, principally due to the third-quarter one-off charge.
