NEW YORK: Zynga Wednesday forecasts annual net tickets above Wall Street estimates, promising the launch of the upcoming FarmVille game and strong in-game spending in existing titles like Harry Potter : Puzzles & Spells.
The company’s shares rose nearly 3 percent in extended trading.
Zynga said full-year net tickets – a sign of future revenues – are expected to reach US $ 2.8 billion, more than U.S. analysts had expected $ 2.75 billion, according to data Refinitiv IBES.
Its preview includes a full-year offering from the Rollic Toon Blast and Toy Blast titles, the original sale of Puzzle Combat and FarmVille 3 launched in the first half of 2021, and the release of could have released their first Star Wars game by the end of the year.
NaturalMotion studio Zynga is also developing four new games with a focus on the action-adventure segment that users would be able to play across platforms, CEO Frank Gibeau told Reuters.
The published games are expected to start at the end of 2021, he said.
Zynga relies on licensing deals with license holders, such as the one with Warner Bros. Games for Harry Potter and Walt Disney for Star Wars, to publish themed games and has strengthened its position in the growing mobile gaming market quickly through acquiring strong property. .
The company said it expects international expansion of its franchises to drive growth in 2021, with Europe and Asia likely to be key growth markets.
U.S. net tickets were $ 699 million for the fourth quarter, surpassing estimates of US $ 677.2 million. Zynga mainly generates revenue from the sale of virtual goods, such as money and life, within its free-to-play games.
The average monthly active users of the publisher Words With Friends more than doubled from a year earlier to 134 million as people spent more time online due to restrictions caused by pandemics.