Zynga valued more than EA in latest estimates

By Molly McHugh Published October 26, 2010

As if anyone needed more confirmation that the social and mobile gaming genre was taking over the industry, Farmville creator Zynga has nearly doubled is market worth in the last several months and is more profitable than veteran gaming giant EA.

In March of last year, Zynga was valued at $2.61 billion dollars – not bad for a firm less than five years old. Today Bloomberg News reported its worth at $5.51 billion. EA is reported to be worth $5.16 billion.

Recommended Videos

Zynga continues to face public scrutiny (as well as lawsuits) concerning its security flaws after being found to share its users’ information with third-party vendors for advertising purposes. Still, it seems as though the scandal hasn’t had a negative impact on its financial success, at least yet. Responsible for creating six of the 10 most popular Facebook games, the company maintains inexpensive operations and its users number in the millions.

The presence of social and mobile gaming only seems to growing, and while it may have been outsold by Zynga, EA is taking notes. Less than a week ago, the company acquired Angry Birds publisher Chillingo, a popular mobile gaming publisher, for $20 million. And last year, EA purchased prominent social gaming company Playfish for $275 million. Despite these attempts, however, the gaming giant has seen shares drop over 20 percent in the last year and was forced to make substantial staffing cuts. EA is clearly struggling to adjust to a console-less gaming environment, but seems to know that investing in social and mobile gaming is the safe bet to turn profits around.

Update: Originally we stated Chillingo was the developer of Angry Birds. A reader pointed out that they are a publisher. This has been corrected.

Topics

Social Media

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Before coming to Digital Trends, Molly worked as a freelance writer, occasional photographer, and general technical lackey…

Gaming

How to get fire quartz in Stardew Valley

A player getting a mineral in Stardew Valley.

There are tons of common items and materials in Stardew Valley that don't require you to look up any tips or tricks to find. Things like regular quartz are almost impossible to miss, while things like Powdermelon and fire quartz aren't quite as easy to come by. The rarer the material, the more uses it has, which is the case for this red version of quartz called fire quartz. Despite how pretty they look, you probably won't want to give them away as gifts once you learn how to reliably find them.
How to find fire quartz

Like any mineral in Stardew Valley, fire quartz needs to be foraged out in the world rather than made yourself. The Mines are where you will need to spend your time searching, but only after you have explored far enough to reach floor 80 and beyond. After floor 80, fire quartz will start to appear for you to forage. Beyond finding it on its own, you can also find some inside of either Magam or Omni Geodes. Because it is fairly common to spot on its own, you shouldn't need to rely on looking for geodes to get enough.

Gaming

The best video game DLCs of all time

A rider approaching a flame golem Shadow of the Erdtree.

There's a certain sadness to finishing one of the best games of all time. While the experience itself was great, seeing it come to an end leaves you looking for the next upcoming game or waiting for its sequel, which could be years away. However, some developers stick with their current game a bit longer and add in DLC down the road, which gives you a new reason to revisit that title. These expansions can add new areas, quests, modes, weapons, stories, characters, and more. Some even act as small sequels themselves to bridge the gap into new games or maybe add backstory and context to the world only hinted at before. There are also DLC packs that only add in some cosmetics, but those aren't the kind that will make this list. These are the best DLC expansions that are arguably even better than the main game.

If you need a place to start before getting into DLC, we also picked out the best PS5 games, best Xbox Series X games, best PC games, and best Switch games.

Gaming

This PlayStation 5 bundle is on sale with a rare $76 discount — don’t miss it!

The Sony PlayStation 5 Slim Disc Edition Fortnite Cobalt Star Bundle and its box.

Gamers who haven't bought the PlayStation 5 yet, here's your chance to get the console with a huge discount. The PlayStation 5 Disc Edition - Fortnite Cobalt Star Bundle, which is originally priced at $500, is currently on sale from Walmart with a $76 discount that drops its price to a more affordable $424. We're not sure how long this offer will last, but given the device's popularity, we think it will sell out quickly. This is not a time to hesitate -- you need to complete your purchase quickly as you won't always see PS5 deals like this one.

Why you should buy the PlayStation 5 Disc Edition - Fortnite Cobalt Star Bundle
The version of the PlayStation 5 in the PlayStation 5 Disc Edition - Fortnite Cobalt Star Bundle is the PlayStation 5 Slim, which is not only slimmer than the original model as you can guess from its name, but also expands storage space to 1TB from 825GB previously. There's no other significant difference -- you'll be able to play all of the best PS5 exclusives, and if you're a fan of Fortnite, you'll also get codes to access Cobalt Star cosmetic items alongside 1,000 V-Bucks to spend on the free-to-play game. This is also the Disc Edition of the console, which means you have the option of using physical discs or downloading digital titles from the PlayStation Store.

nproxy.org