The folks at Zynga announced this week (via a rosy earnings report) that they’ve cut a $100 million deal to acquire the mobile card/board game catalog and mobile card/board game studio of Peak Games, an Istanbul-based game company that’s been operating since 2010.
It’s a good indicator of where Zynga’s business is at these days: mobile games, especially free-to-play mobile card games.
While Peak’s mobile game catalog includes brightly-colored F2P puzzle games like Toy Blast and Lost Jewels, that’s not what Zynga is acquiring — the company specifically said it made the deal to acquire Peak games like Gin Rummy Plus, Spades Plus, and Rummy Plus.
“The addition of Peak Games’ mobile card games will give Zynga the world’s largest portfolio of casual card games,” reads an excerpt of Zynga’s recent letter to investors.
“These games have broad, evergreen appeal to millions of people around the world and they build on our strategy to continue growing our card portfolio over the long-term. These additions will enhance our card-based audience – adding millions of DAU (daily active users) – and will be accretive to our near-term margin goals.”
Barring any unforeseen hindrances, the $100 million cash deal is expected to close in the coming months.