Zynga Reports $108m Loss As Gamers Turn Away From Draw Something

FarmVille Makers Report Massive Loss

Social gaming giant Zynga has reported a net loss for the first six months of 2012, sending its shares plummeting.

The company behind FarmVille and Words With Friends, which went public last December but has so far disappointed investors, said it made a net loss of $108m.

The company made revenues of $332m, compared to low analysts expectations of $344m.

That compares to a profit of $18 for the first half of 2011.

Zynga said that its full year earnings would be between 4 and 9 cents per share, well down from a projected 23-29 cents.

Shares in the company fell by 40% in after-hours trading following the news, taking the price to near $3.

That's a loss of 70% compared to its IPO price of $10, when it went public in December.

Zynga has a close but fragile relationship with Facebook, the platform on which most of its games are still played. The company is said to be responsible for about 15% of Facebook's profit, and its own attempts to move towards mobile gaming have faltered.

Where once Zynga's games dominated the iOS App Store, it currently only has one game in the top 50 'most grossing' charts.

The company blamed declining interest in Draw Something for some of its poor performance. Zynga purchased Draw Something's creators OMGPop for $200m earlier this year.

Facebook will release its own results on Thursday, after weeks of volatile stock performance.

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