Zynga bets on gambling studio Spooky Cool

Zynga has purchased real-money game developer Spooky Cool.

TechCrunch reports the Chicago-based crew of 40 will stay in its current location but work with the San Francisco social casino game team.

Spooky Cool is made up of veterans of the digital gambling industry and its founder, Joe Kaminkow, was listed as one the the ten most influential people in slot gaming history by Strictly Slots Magazine.

Zynga isn’t putting all its chips in one place though, as the team also brings with it other non-gambling social brands, like a Wizard of Oz city-building game.

Just two weeks ago Zynga laid off 500 employees and closed Zynga New York, which housed Draw Something developer OMGPOP after the company acquired it for $200 million.