S.F.-based social gaming company Zynga on Thursday released its first sports game, "NFL Showdown," in an "attempt to use sports to win over players and regain its former luster," according to Benny Evangelista of the S.F. CHRONICLE. Zynga Sports 365 VP/Games Mike Taramykin said, "Having a sports business within the portfolio is going to be a huge win for the company." The company's new football offering "lets players become coaches and general managers who pick starting lineups, bid for free agents, organize practices, schedule strength and conditioning drills and set overall game strategy." The game "updates every player's abilities each week by incorporating fantasy league statistics supplied by the NFL." "NFL Showdown" GM Jason Shenkman said, "This is intended to be an authentic manager-coach experience for our users." Evangelista notes Zynga, which is best known for its once-popular "FarmVille" game, is "trying to snap a financial losing streak." Wedbush Securities Managing Dir of Equity Research Michael Pachter said the new NFL game has "a good chance of success." Pachter: "It won't be huge, but could be a solid contributor" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 9/5).
IT'S IN THE GAME: ADWEEK's Garett Sloane noted EA Sports to promote its "Madden" football game is "trying out a new Google advertising program that allows the game maker to quickly create gif ads and customize the message based on what is happening on the field." The real-time marketing technology "represents Google's answer to social media channels like Twitter." The ads will be gifs -- short, looping video clips -- that will "flash messages, kind of like trash talk" (ADWEEK.com, 9/4).
