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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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Zynga today acquired NaturalMotion, the company that developed the Clumsy Ninja app, for a total of $527 million in cash and stock. Clumsy Ninja, which was released in November of 2013 after a long development period, was highlighted by Apple during the iPhone 5 media event in September of 2012.

Following its initial debut, the app and the company behind it received a lot of attention for the natural movement styles of the ragdoll ninja character.

clumsyninja.jpg
Founded by Torsten Reil, a former evolutionary biologist, NaturalMotion specializes in high quality games that use realistic animations, which is a bit of a departure from Zynga's typical game style.

Along with Clumsy Ninja, NaturalMotion has also released several other iOS apps, including Jenga, Icebreaker Hockey, and CSR Racing. According to Zynga CEO Don Mattrick, NaturalMotion will expand Zynga's creative pipeline and bring next-generation tools to the company.
NaturalMotion expands Zynga's creative pipeline, accelerates our mobile growth, and brings next-generation technology and tools to Zynga that will fast-track our ability to deliver consumers more hit games. Bringing Zynga and NaturalMotion together is a bold step in the right direction at the right time.

Combining NaturalMotion's strengths with Zynga's ability to develop breakthrough social features while sustaining live games over time, offers us a huge opportunity to redefine the gaming industry and deliver consumers blockbuster entertainment experiences.
Alongside the acquisition of NaturalMotion, Zynga also announced that it is laying off a total of 314 employees, or 15 percent of its workforce, as part of a cost reduction plan that is expected to save the company up to $35 million. During 2013, Zynga saw $873.3 million in revenue, but ultimately had a net loss of $37 million.

Article Link: Zynga Acquires Company Behind 'Clumsy Ninja' App
 

Sky Blue

Guest
Jan 8, 2005
6,856
11
"NaturalMotion specializes in high quality games.....a bit of a departure from Zynga's typical game style."

lol
 

levitynyc

macrumors 65816
Aug 19, 2006
1,123
3,704
What a horribly run company. They bought OMGPOP (draw something) for 180 million friggin dollars...and now this.

Not to mention that Don Mattrick left the Xbox One division for Zynga, which is sort of like jumping out of the Hindenburg and landing on the Titanic.
 

Jessica Lares

macrumors G3
Oct 31, 2009
9,612
1,055
Near Dallas, Texas, USA
The movement on Clumsy Ninja was pretty cool, but I didn't hold my attention enough to keep playing...

Gary

Same here. But we're all adults here and it's a game aimed at kids.

I would like to see another Horn type game from Zynga though, that'd be pretty cool. I think it's good that they're trying to branch out of things with friends though.
 

bushido

Suspended
Mar 26, 2008
8,070
2,755
Germany
oh dear ... another game they can run to the ground. i thought they were broke like those ring tone commercial companies by now
 

/dev/toaster

macrumors 68020
Feb 23, 2006
2,478
249
San Francisco, CA
OMG, if they sold their company for Zynga stock...they ain't gonna see much of a payday.

Why wouldn't they ? They sold for $527 million in cash and stock.

Per price Zynga stock is well under IPO price. But they have been holding at around $3.55 for a long while now.

Sure there is the black out period, but chances are it will still be that price in 6 months. Zynga has had no growth and have basically flat lined.

Outside of that, I am done playing Clumsy Ninja as of when I read this. I hate Zynga, they are worse then EA. They have ripped off so many game developers it is sickening. If they can't buy you, they will clone you.
 

carbonrain

macrumors member
Jul 28, 2011
34
28
Austin, TX
Yea, but they're just going to ruin it. they ruin all games. the CEO even said he was over games. they killed rubyblast like dummies. forget them. I'm over them.
 

lunaoso

macrumors 65816
Sep 22, 2012
1,332
54
Boston, MA
$587 mil? This is why Zynga is going down the tubes. They would need to make 1.6 mil a day up for an entire calendar year just to break even. 800,000 a day for 2 years to break even. After 3, realistically, the game will be old news. So basically they need close to a million a day for 2 years to be able to profit. Even win whatever tech they get from this, it's till not going to be worth it. Does anyone do math at Zynga? :eek:
 

HiRez

macrumors 603
Jan 6, 2004
6,250
2,576
Western US
Clumsy Ninja is nifty but half a billion dollars? Good lord. To put that in perspective, they're paying 14X what Zynga lost last year. Kind of a miracle they are still in business despite Farmville etc.
 

sully54

macrumors 6502
Sep 15, 2012
371
959
Canada
Wait, so how does it make sense that they layoff staff to save $35 million and then in the same breath acquire a company for half a billion dollars?
 

springsup

macrumors 65816
Feb 14, 2013
1,216
1,199
The movement on Clumsy Ninja was pretty cool, but I didn't hold my attention enough to keep playing...

Gary

Too much IAP for me. Played with the game for about 20 minutes, then I just got annoyed about how pushy it was that I buy stuff.

If you want my money, charge me for the game or let me enjoy it and choose to upgrade certain things I like once I see the value.

Also, IIRC the IAPs were all (or mostly) consumable, which is a big turn-off for me.

----------

Why wouldn't they ? They sold for $527 million in cash and stock.

Per price Zynga stock is well under IPO price. But they have been holding at around $3.55 for a long while now.

Sure there is the black out period, but chances are it will still be that price in 6 months. Zynga has had no growth and have basically flat lined.

Outside of that, I am done playing Clumsy Ninja as of when I read this. I hate Zynga, they are worse then EA. They have ripped off so many game developers it is sickening. If they can't buy you, they will clone you.

Companies that don't grow tend not to have the same stock price 6 months later.
 

sebastian...

macrumors regular
Sep 11, 2011
246
16
Kinda weird that NaturalMotion was bought just for that small game, since NaturalMotion is a company that invented and developed new ways to animate realistic humans and other characters and developed professional software used even in Lord of the rings and other movies and TV ads.

Basically that software is capable of simulating realistic human motion and reactions + physics and dynamics.

I thought the Clumsy Ninja game (a fun game) was just a hobby project for them. What's gonna happen with their revolutionary professional software now ?
 

GavApple

macrumors newbie
Apr 15, 2013
20
0
UK
Oh Bu**er

I hope Zynga don't screw this game up. I've enjoyed playing it since waiting a year for its release.
NaturalMotion has done a good job with Clumsy Ninja!! :apple:
 

iPhD

macrumors member
Jun 22, 2007
66
64
Any chance of Carl Icahn buying up all Zynga's stock and then doing whatever it is he does to bring forth destruction and damnation?
 
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