Zynga IPO is a go-go: Shares to hit the market tomorrow at $10 a pop

Zynga, the ginormous developer behind FarmVille and CityVille, is looking to make serious bank on its initial public offering (IPO). For real this time, people. Bloomberg reports that the San Francisco-based company will hit the Nasdaq Dec. 16 at $10 a share. That price is at the high end of its reported $8.50 to $10 range. And at 100 million shares, the company looks to raise $1 billion.

You can cue the Dr. Evil-esque laughter now--we bet Zynga CEO Mark Pincus and crew already have. The company's final valuation, according to TechCrunch, is $7 billion. That's a bit on the low side of what many outlets estimated: between $6 and $9 billion. This market cap would put Zynga right in line with EA, which currently has a market cap of $6.93 billion, and way under Activision Blizzard's (the most valuable company in the industry) $13.57 billion.

Those comparisons are important: Zynga was founded in 2007, while EA and Activision Blizzard were originally created in 1982 and 1979, respectively. That means the creator of Flash games like CastleVille could end up being worth more than a 29-year-old company after just four years. What does this mean?

Well, we're either looking at the biggest bubble in the tech world since Google went public in 2004, or free-to-play, easily accessible and low-impact efforts will truly drive the future of video games. Of course, Zynga still has to worry if investors will look past the recent torrent of bad press and poor estimations by analysts. Successful IPO or not, something tells us Zynga will face an uphill battle in 2012.

What do you think of what Zynga expects in its IPO? What does this mean for the game industry as a whole?

Zynga's competitors welcome the IPO with open arms ... right

Come on, these guys have to be just a little jelly, right? (It's kinda' hard not to feel a bit green when a guy can sell a home that he's never lived in for $8 million.) VentureBeat reports that a number of Zynga's rivals have congratulated the 4-year-old company on its initial public offering, which is trading right now for 10 bucks a share. The general consensus? This is good for everyone.

"Zynga's IPO is great for the industry, providing a focal point for many to learn and get more involved in important industry trends," Digital Chocolate CEO Trip Hawkins told VentureBeat. "The IPO should also prove to be a catalyst for many future transactions that will help the industry." (Note: Hawkins founded EA in 1982, which Zynga could very well outpace today after four short years.)

Other industry higher-ups not only applaud the FarmVille maker's debut on the Nasdaq, but are confident that it can perform in the long run."Could 30 percent [of Facebook users] play Zynga games over time? Yeah," CrowdStar CEO Peter Relan told us recently. But reading Kabam CEO Kevin Chou's words, makes it crystal clear as to why exactly these folks are psyched.

"It's the most important event in the gaming industry in the last decade, and Zynga didn't even exist five years ago," Chou told VentureBeat. Ah-ha! We get it now. You see, if Zynga does well on the stock market into 2012, it essentially validates what its competitors have been trying to do, too, inspiring more investors--both public and private--to get in on social gaming. In other words, Zynga could make it rain on everybody.

[Image Credit: AppyHourTV]

What do you think the Zynga IPO could mean for the rest of the industry?

Zynga gobbled up two unnamed companies for $4.9 million in 45 days

Talk about nom-noms. VentureBeat reports that FarmVille maker Zynga has acquired two unnamed companies between Oct. 1 and now, citing an amendment to an S1 filing submitted to the U.S. Security and Exchanges Commission yesterday. Zynga has filed several amendments to the S1 filing in preparation for its expected $1 billion initial public offering, but this is by far the juiciest (and most positive, frankly).

According to the filing, Zynga paid a measly $4.9 million total for both companies, meaning they were likely rather small. But it's exactly these tiny acquisitions that have helped the company amass over 2,500 employees globally. With this news, Zynga has bought 15 companies in the past year, all for a total of $45.5 million. Zynga's most recent acquisition (that we know of) was Astro Ape back in August

EA paid nearly $1 billion upfront for Bejeweled maker PopCap, while Disney played upwards $500 million for Playdom last year. Keep in mind, however, that both EA and Disney are basically in a position where small startups simply won't do, if they want to combat Zynga. But don't think Zynga hasn't at least considered a major purchase ... or made major offers outright. Now, who's next?

Who do you think Zynga might have purchased? Do you think EA and Disney could employ a similar strategy to compete with the company?