Zynga gets its first taste of economic slowdown

Casual games giant and CityVille publisher Zynga has reported a slight slow down in growth for the first time in its history during its June quarter.

Year-on-year profits for the period fell to $1.3m – that’s a drop of 95 per cent. Revenue continued to grow though at a slower rate, increasing from $242.9m to $279.1m. The 15 per cent rise is down from the 24 per cent rise seen in the previous quarter.

The company is now worth an estimated $14.05bn.

Daily active users fell four per cent from 62m to 59m.

Gamasutra reports that another important metric of note is ‘bookings’, which refers to revenues gained from microtransactions and ads at the time of sale before adjustment.

Bookings fell year-on-year for the first time in Zynga’s history, dropping four per cent to $247.7m. The key perpetrator appears to be the lack of any new game launches in the period.

Zynga now says that the probability of its long-anticipated IPO commencing, which has been delayed due to the troubled financial climate, has dropped from 80 per cent to 75 per cent.