This Is How Zynga Do’s It

Are you ready for a Fairy Tale Twist? Players of the game ‘Fairy Tale Twist’ tried to log in to their games on January 26 only to find that they couldn’t. That was because Zynga was making a few changes to that game. Zynga subsequently made the following announcement;

Introducing Puzzle Charms!

Mon Jan 27 09:26:28 EST 2014

Hello Fellow Twisters!

The twists and turns of the game we all loved can only get better and charm-ier!

We're glad to announce to everyone that Fairy Tale Twist is now called Puzzle Charms! Feed the Rabbits and pass  through Puzzles with never-ending Charms as you go along and finish all the fun-tastic levels!

Don't forget to bookmark the new game link: https://apps.facebook.com/puzzlecharms/

And now, let's all continue to play and be charmed, by Puzzle charms!

source: Puzzle Charms Player Suport 

With the name change from ‘Fairy Tale Twist’ to ‘Puzzle Charms’ the DAU of the game now surpasses that of Mafia Wars.  

Fairy Tale Twist Game Name Change Increases DAU

Mafia Wars’ DAU Still Hovering Below 200,00

Although Mafia Wars may appear to have a little momentum in improving it’s Daily Users over the course of the past 2 weeks the game is far from where it once was. The next 2 graphics show how much Daily activity Mafia Wars has lost within the last year and 2 years (respectively).

DAU Change in last year:  -31%

Change in DAU between 2012 Q2 and 2014 Q1: -52%

We have expressed time and again how we believe Zynga is its own worst enemy with its business model. Others are now expressing similar thoughts. The following is a quote from Robert Weinstein who wrote an article on thestreet.com that questioned Zynga’s Customer Service.

“According to Zynga's filings, few users break out the credit card to spend real money. OK, that's not a surprise, but maybe the exact model it's using isn't the correct one.”

The problem with Zynga (within nearly ALL it's games) is that they have forgotten that their games are ‘supposed’ to be ‘freemium’ games. Mafia Wars is among several of Zynga’s games that have become money grubbing games that are nearly impossible to play (or to at least have the ability to complete many of the ‘in-game’ tasks and features) without the need of spending lots of cash.

Zynga made its billions 4 (+/-) years ago when its games were playable by everyone. Players used to spend $5 or $10 on a game card or other in-game purchase when they didn’t feel over-pressured by Zynga to do so. This is back when the in-game purchases either sped you through something or gave you a small perk over others (albeit only temporary).

The over-priced and high-pressure tactics of Microsoft WILL NOT work in a ‘Freemium’ atmosphere! Period. Those tactics will only chase players away from your services Zynga! Facebook is not like the X-Box.