Big games and little games coming together - https://t.co/MWfh5nXQ0M

— Lance Ulanoff (@LanceUlanoff) January 10, 2022

Strauss Zelnick is one of the greatest leaders out there. You’d be hard pressed to find someone as kind, wise and driven. https://t.co/UTMgULnKY7

— Jared Hecht (@jaredhecht) January 10, 2022

Been wondering which company was going to take out Zynga. Looks like Take Two wins it. More dealmaking is on the way I’m sure. https://t.co/BchFVEQhxr

— Bowdeya Tweh (@BowKnowsBiz) January 10, 2022

4/ But that strategy was not workable post-ATT. In order to retrofit itself into a Content Fortress, Zynga was going to need a more robust central org, which is anathema to its previous operating model. The acquisition of Chartboost was brilliant, but how could it be integrated?

— Eric Seufert (@eric_seufert) January 10, 2022

TIL that Zynga:

a) still exists
b) is somehow worth… 13bn?! https://t.co/FYheIhK2Yo

— danielle ?️‍? (@endocrimes) January 10, 2022

6/ According to Sensor Tower, Zynga HQ's titles (social casino portfolio + WWF, FV, etc.) generate only about 40% of total revenues. In order to integrate Chartboost & develop a Content Fortress, Zynga HQ would have needed to re-route the majority of the company's revenue pic.twitter.com/DW6tqgbToY

— Eric Seufert (@eric_seufert) January 10, 2022

Never thought I’d see the publisher of Grand Theft Auto buy the publisher of Farmville. https://t.co/JtH49wAPIS

— Steve Kovach (@stevekovach) January 10, 2022

Soooo close.

Years ago, John Doerr joked on stage with me that "God intended" Zynga to be above $10 per share. The sale price works out to $9.86 per share.https://t.co/MuMgBUXvz5

— Dan Primack (@danprimack) January 10, 2022

8/ Meanwhile, Take Two needed a mobile business. It acquired SocialPoint, based in Barcelona, several years ago, and my understanding was that the team was given the remit to aggregate a much larger business through M&A, but for whatever reason that never happened.

— Eric Seufert (@eric_seufert) January 10, 2022

Zynga and Take-Two Interactive have agreed to combine, creating a global leader in interactive entertainment with a portfolio of iconic franchises. https://t.co/yhF6LUCQmZ

— Zynga (@zynga) January 10, 2022

I can’t wait to see what Rockstar does with FarmVille. https://t.co/068VmFCbVx

— Mike Mika (@MikeJMika) January 10, 2022

9/ Take Two's acquisition of Two Dots earlier last year was interesting if only because the CEO of Two Dots became Take Two's head of mobile. My understanding is that all Take Two mobile now rolls into Zynga, but that's not totally clear https://t.co/BKHISOV32E

— Eric Seufert (@eric_seufert) January 10, 2022

2/ First, this isnt altogether surprising. The question was always: who is going to pay $10BN+ for the company? EA was out (just acquired Glu), this would fit awkwardly into Activision's portfolio given that they own King, and Chinese acquisitions likely wouldnt get approved

— Eric Seufert (@eric_seufert) January 10, 2022

I’m excited that Zynga today announced a plan to merge with Take-Two. This has been an amazing 15 year journey. I'd like to share thoughts as I reflect, and why I remain so bullish on gaming. 1/x

— mark pincus (@markpinc) January 10, 2022

Combining Zynga’s expertise in mobile and our next generation platforms with Take-Two’s best-in-class capabilities and intellectual property is a game changing opportunity for our industry. https://t.co/yhF6LUCQmZ

— Zynga (@zynga) January 10, 2022

It's a no-brainer for Take-Two to get franchises like GTA and Red Dead on mobile. A free-to-play iOS version of GTA Online will make kajillions, and Zynga's got the expertise to develop that. But Take-Two is years late and spent way too much, which may explain market negativity

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) January 10, 2022

5/ Satellite studios are compensated on the basis of their own games; they dont want to give DAU away through cross-promotion. And my understanding is that the satellite studios fought bitterly against any intervention from Zynga HQ

— Eric Seufert (@eric_seufert) January 10, 2022

$TTWO shares down -10.7% pre-market on the back of its $ZNGA acquisition

Note that this deal is subject to a buyside vote, and the acquiror's shareholders DO NOT like this deal

Another $MNTV / $ZEN situation?https://t.co/cT6MFPyXd7

— Julian Klymochko.eth (@JulianKlymochko) January 10, 2022

3/ Zynga's strategy in its most recent incarnation had been to acquire studios with ascendent titles at a premium, incentivize the teams with very lucrative earnouts, and let them operate completely independently. It worked! I wrote this in 2020 https://t.co/4mu6Q1IGbW

— Eric Seufert (@eric_seufert) January 10, 2022

Also, congrats to Take-Two for not using “metaverse” in its press release. https://t.co/UQqjoYNrPB

— Steve Kovach (@stevekovach) January 10, 2022

Just a daily reminder that mobile gaming is massive, way bigger than console and pc gaming. These deal will make the Zenimax deal look like peanuts. Zynga is massive in the mobile space. https://t.co/BHJBc9zgcY

— Nintendo Prime (@NintyPrime) January 10, 2022

We’re excited to partner with Take-Two, creator of Grand Theft Auto®, Red Dead Redemption®, Midnight Club®, NBA 2K®, BioShock®, Borderlands®, Civilization®, Mafia®, and Kerbal Space Program®. https://t.co/yhF6LUCQmZ

— Zynga (@zynga) January 10, 2022

10/ Take Two now gets to pair its powerful IP with a constellation of impressive studios (Peak, Gram, Small Giant, etc.) and a DSP (Chartboost). My sense is that Take Two wants to build a unified identity system to manage cross-device play (read: Content Fortress)

— Eric Seufert (@eric_seufert) January 10, 2022

Take-Two buying Zynga. Solves the biggest problem for each. Didn’t have confidence in Zynga ability to move away from casual or ever develop own IP. Take-Two has needed a bigger mobile strategy for forever. $TTWO $ZNGA

— Brandon Ross (@BrandoLightShed) January 10, 2022

11/ This is an incredible outcome for Zynga and a very shrewd maneuver for Take Two, which adds 38MM mobile DAUs to its business in a way that potentially can be paired with console users to create a multi-device identity (read: high LTV)

— Eric Seufert (@eric_seufert) January 10, 2022

Some thoughts on Take Two's acquisition of Zynga in a thread (1/X) $TTWO $ZNGA https://t.co/Zg91Ru2gmZ

— Eric Seufert (@eric_seufert) January 10, 2022

7/ Zynga was having a hard time selling the Content Fortress story to investors (rightly so: not credible). Other punts, like its shadowboxed move into crypto, were similarly dismissed. Zynga had no compelling strategy moving into 2022 https://t.co/KIXlKaJMKf

— Eric Seufert (@eric_seufert) January 10, 2022

Take-Two buys Zynga for $12.7B enterprise value https://t.co/S0bqJm7XQ5

— Peter Vesterbacka (@pvesterbacka) January 10, 2022

Big deal, and more big changes coming for games in 2022. Take-Two buys Zynga for $12.7B enterprise value https://t.co/FK06dCnB2l

— Dean Takahashi (@deantak) January 10, 2022

Take-Two buys Zynga for $12.7B enterprise value https://t.co/QRWnMOpQIT by @deantak

— GamesBeat (@GamesBeat) January 10, 2022

It takes two to tango as Take-Two acquires Zynga, the creator of Farmville https://t.co/sGiUwA9Cm2

— XDA (@xdadevelopers) January 10, 2022

Take-Two is acquiring mobile game giant Zynga for $12.7 billion https://t.co/qo6P5ftgUv pic.twitter.com/0hC2gfx1sM

— Engadget Gaming (@engadgetgaming) January 10, 2022

GTA parent Take-Two says it wants Zynga to bring its core franchises to mobile.https://t.co/q3YXxaWy8E pic.twitter.com/bLk1USkNXD

— VGC (@VGC_News) January 10, 2022

Take Two says they want to bring their core franchises to mobile after acquiring Zynga for $12.7 billion.https://t.co/55ycmu0qko pic.twitter.com/JWLisukol0

— Okami Games (@Okami13_) January 10, 2022

GTA parent Take-Two says it wants Zynga to bring its core franchises to mobile.https://t.co/IBzRTByhFp

— Andy Robinson (@AndyPlaytonic) January 10, 2022

Gaming is huge! Wait till the realize the potential of #Tokenization and gaming such as what ⁦@LitemintHQ⁩ has been doing with ⁦@StellarOrg #xlm ⁦@StellarGlobal_⁩

⁩ Take-Two Interactive to buy FarmVille creator Zynga for $12.7 billion https://t.co/unYWwlovLR

— Sam Conner the Stellar Global Lumenaut ??#XLM (@samconnerone) January 10, 2022

In other news - while @DjokerNole had to spend Xmas in detention I spent it working on the biggest deal in the history of the video game industry.

We're building the most creative, the most innovative entertainment company in the world. Join us @Nordeus https://t.co/x8XbYaPPft

— Branko Milutinović (@BrankoMM) January 10, 2022

Take-Two Interactive is buying mobile gaming company Zynga for $12.7 billion, marking the latest blockbuster acquisition in a string of major deals in the video game industry. https://t.co/7iFLl75iSH

— CNBC (@CNBC) January 10, 2022

Take-Two Interactive to buy FarmVille creator Zynga for $12.7 billion https://t.co/jPREOFH8PX

— CNBC (@CNBC) January 10, 2022

Take-Two Interactive to buy FarmVille creator Zynga for $12.7 billion - CNBC https://t.co/FBZnpjpd0c via @GoogleNews

— Miko Matsumura (@mikojava) January 10, 2022

Huge gaming M&A news: mobile gaming company Zynga to be acquired by Take-Two Interactive for $12.7bn. $ZYNGA shares flying 49% in premarket. https://t.co/XQ1aCw1wow

— Ryan Browne (@Ryan_Browne_) January 10, 2022

What a wild ride for Zynga. https://t.co/bMcOPwFKtA

— Jay Yarow (@jyarow) January 10, 2022

Game on. Wow! https://t.co/gGP5Ksu2yf

— matt barash (@mjbarash) January 10, 2022