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514 Part Three Key System Applications for the Digital Age
Then, Zynga uses the data to get players to play lon- Draw Something mobile game, which asks players
ger, tell more friends, and buy even more goods. to make sketches illustrating words and have others
Not everybody is thrilled with Zynga’s data-driven guess what they drew. Zynga’s management hopes
approach to making games. Many game industry that Draw Something will be part of a larger plan to
veterans believe Zynga’s games are overly simplis- build a mobile gaming network based on a portfolio
tic and have many of the same game elements. The of mobile, casual, and social games across a vari-
company has also been the target of several lawsuits ety of social networks and platfoms. DreamWorks
alleging that Zynga copied other companies’ games. Animation will work with Zynga to place additional
Even developers within Zynga have sometimes advertising within the game, creating another new
bristled at the company’s prioritization of data analy- source of revenue.
sis over creativity in game design. Some question Will these efforts be enough to sustain Zynga’s
Zynga’s ability to prosper over the long term, saying competitive advantage? Will Zynga’s business model
it would be difficult for the company to create new hold up as more of the Internet goes mobile? It’s still
games to replace old ones whose novelty is fading. too early to tell, but you can bet that Zynga will be
In 2011–2012, the average amount of revenue from poring over the data to find out.
Zynga’s core users dropped 10 percent even though
Sources: David Streitfeld and Jenna Wortham, “The News Isn’t
its overall number of users expanded. Zynga’s
Good for Zynga, Maker of FarmVille,” The New York Times, July 25,
business model also assumes Facebook will continue 2012; Jenna Wortham, “Zynga’s Plan to Get Its Groove Back: More
to operate in the same manner and that customers Games and Social Upgrades,” The New York Times, June 26, 2012;
will continue to expect the same quality of games. Lance Ulanoff, “Zynga Wants to Be a Mobile Gaming Network,”
Mashable, May 30, 2012; Ian Sherr, “Game Changer for Zynga:
That may not always be the case.
No Facebook,” The Wall Street Journal, March 1, 2012 and “Zynga
In other words, Zynga’s games lack artistry. But Defends Acquisition,” The Wall Street Journal, May 24, 2012; David
Zynga readily admits that its target audience is the Streitfeld, “Zynga Seeks to Match Up Players for Online Games,”
segment of gamers that prefer casual games, and its The New York Times, March 1, 2012; Nick Wingfield, “Virtual
goal is to make games that nearly anyone can play. Products, Real Profits,” The Wall Street Journal, September 9, 2011;
“The Impact of Social Graphing Analysis on the Bottom Line:
Gamers that want a game requiring high levels of
How Zynga Performs Graph Analysis with the Vertica Analytics
skill or sophisticated graphics can get their fix else- Platform,” www.vertica.com, accessed June 2, 2012; and Jacquelyn
where. Zynga is using the measurability of Facebook Gavron, “Vertica: The Analytics Behind all the Zynga Games,”
activity to guide its game management, and this is ReadWrite Enterprise, July 18, 2011.
helping the company create a finely tailored user CASE STUDY QUESTIONS
experience that hasn’t been seen before in gaming.
1. It has been said that Zynga is “an analytics
To reduce its reliance on Facebook, Zynga intro-
company masquerading as a games company.”
duced its own independent gaming platform called
Discuss the implications of this statement.
Project Z in March 2012. The new platform enables
2. What role does business intelligence play in
customers to play some of Zynga’s popular titles
Zynga’s business model?
from its Web site rather than by accessing them
through Facebook. A service called Zynga With 3. Give examples of three kinds of decisions
supported by business intelligence at Zynga.
Friends will match up players who do not know one
another and might not have Facebook profiles or 4. How much of a competitive advantage does
might be playing the game on a mobile application. business intelligence provide for Zynga? Explain.
That same month Zynga announced it had 5. What problems can business intelligence solve for
purchased OMGPop Inc., the maker of the popular Zynga? What problems can’t it solve?
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