On the Cusp of Zynga's Demise, Another Social Gaming Empire is on the Rise

And Yoda said, “There is another.” While Zynga is showing the first signs of what is sure to be a soul-crushing demise for the FarmVille maker, there's another social gaming company experiencing serious growth internationally: Peak Games. Dedicated to serving emerging game markets (as opposed to the console- and mobile-centric world Zynga attempted to invade), Peak Games is currently the #6 social gaming site in Turkey, MENA (Middle East North Africa), South America, and Mexico. “At Peak Games, understanding emerging markets like Turkey, MENA and Latin America is in our DNA!” said Sidar Sahin, founder and CEO of Peak Games. “We're at a point where we know what kind of games they enjoy, how to acquire new users in specific regions, what triggers virality, and, ultimately, how to monetize. Our development studios are focusing on creating the best games on the market and we're making sure that they're culturally relevant.” Peak Games made a number of announcements this morning, including two acquisitions (the company acquired Umaykut and Erlikhan, which Peak refers to as “hardcore strategy games studios”), new funding ($11.5 million from Earlybird Venture Capital, Hummingbird Ventures and a strategic investor), new games (Umaykut – yes, just like the studio – and Happy Farm), updates for some existing games (TrendKiz and Okey), and a partnership with RockYou. Pointing to data from AppData, Peak Games also said that it now reaches more than 16 million monthly active users. “Similar to most emerging markets, the patterns we see in MENA gaming are exceptionally exciting,” said Rina Onur, Chief Strategy Officer for Peak Games. “Given our current portfolio of games and those in the pipeline that incorporate local languages, we believe we will be able to connect with users in MENA and Latin America by offering games that speak to their needs and passions.” To further illustrate the company's success, Peak Games released the following infographics:

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