Zynga Acquires Company Behind 'Clumsy Ninja' App [iOS Blog]

Zynga Acquires Company Behind 'Clumsy Ninja' App - Mac Rumors window.fbAsyncInit = function() { FB.init({ appId : '263507923666566', status : true, // check login status cookie : true, // enable cookies to allow the server to access the session xfbml : true // parse XFBML }); }; (function() { var e = document.createElement('script'); e.src = document.location.protocol + '//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js'; e.async = true; document.getElementById('fb-root').appendChild(e); }()); Front Page Mac Blog iOS BlogRoundups AirPortApple TViMaciOS 7iPad AiriPad miniiPhone 5ciPhone 5siPhone 6iPod classiciPod nanoiPod shuffleiPod touchiWatchMac miniMac ProMacBook AirMacBook ProOS X MavericksThunderbolt Display Buyer's Guide ForumsGot a tip for us? Share it... Push Twitter Facebook RSS a. Send us an emailb. Anonymous formclose (x)Zynga Acquires Company Behind 'Clumsy Ninja' AppThursday January 30, 2014 5:23 pm PST by Juli CloverZynga 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.


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. [ 30 comments ] Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on Google+ Top Rated Comments(View all)

Sky BluePosted: 22 hours ago at 05:25 pm"NaturalMotion specializes in high quality games.....a bit of a departure from Zynga's typical game style."

lolRating: 19 PositiveslevitynycPosted: 22 hours ago at 05:32 pmWhat 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.Rating: 10 PositivesgarylapointePosted: 22 hours ago at 05:32 pmThe movement on Clumsy Ninja was pretty cool, but I didn't hold my attention enough to keep playing...

GaryRating: 6 Positivessully54Posted: 20 hours ago at 07:03 pmWait, 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?Rating: 5 PositivesHiRezPosted: 21 hours ago at 06:52 pmClumsy 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.Rating: 5 PositivesCarlangaPosted: 17 hours ago at 10:23 pmtime to make a game app to resell to zynga for 2 billion next year :cool:Rating: 4 PositivesDrManhattanPosted: 20 hours ago at 07:19 pmI wouldn't mind if I never saw another Zynga post here ever again. Make it happen guys.Rating: 4 PositivescarbonrainPosted: 21 hours ago at 06:02 pmYea, 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.Rating: 3 PositivesharuhikoPosted: 22 hours ago at 05:50 pmGoodbye clumsy ninjaRating: 3 PositivesblesscheesePosted: 22 hours ago at 05:36 pmOMG, if they sold their company for Zynga stock...they ain't gonna see much of a payday.Rating: 3 Positives
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