Zynga Acquires Gram Games for $250 Million

Zynga has purchased Gram Games, the developers of the popular Merge Dragons! mobile games for $250 million. The acquisition is part of Zynga’s ongoing effort to regain its long-faded crown as the King of mobile games by dominating the newly emergent “hyper-casual” gaming market.
The deal, which was announced late last week, is good news for Gram Games’ 77 employees, who will be keeping their jobs. Currently, the Gram Games staff is working out of offices in London and Istanbul and will remain there for the foreseeable future.
While the deal was sealed at $250 million, there are a number of bonuses and incentives built in to it for Gram Games employees, should they meet certain revenue targets and goals.
Gram Games is currently a leader in an emerging mobile gaming market known as “hyper casual games.” Hyper casual are, according to PocketGamerBiz.com, are relatively simple games that can be played instantly and typically are enjoyed in very short sessions. The revenue model for hyper casual tends to be based on advertising, rather than on in-game purchases. As a result, hyper casual games are kept somewhat simple and tend to be relatively small in file size.
Gram Games is already a leader in this particular market and Merge Dragons! was one of the top 50 grossing gaming apps of last year. While Zynga officials aren’t expecting an immediate boost from the Gram Games acquisition, they do have high hopes that the company will help restore them to the glory and dominance they held during the height of the Farmville craze, nearly a decade ago.
Investors reacted positively to the news bumping share prices of Zynga from $4.19 a share to $4.56.