P-L-A-Y Your Way to Victory in Words With Friends on Messenger

SAN FRANCISCO, May 02, 2017 -- Zynga (Nasdaq:ZNGA), a leading social game developer, today announced the launch of Words With Friends for Instant Games. Developed using Facebook’s newly announced rich gameplay features for Instant Games, Words With Friends pairs the beloved gameplay of one of the world’s most popular word games with the global, social connection on Messenger and Facebook.

“We’re proud to be one of the first gaming companies innovating on the Instant Games platform, delivering an immersive Words With Friends experience on Messenger to word fans everywhere,” said Vaibhav Sahgal, Vice President of Games for Zynga. “As one of the most popular word games in the world, Words With Friends is a daily ritual in millions of people’s lives, connecting them with their friends and family around the globe. We’re excited to partner with Facebook in reimagining Words With Friends for Instant Games on Messenger – bringing its iconic gameplay and rich social experience directly to the places that people are communicating.”

As the first-ever turn-based game on Messenger, players can now have all the fun Words With Friends offers, right where they are already connecting with friends from around the world. Now players can make moves directly on Messenger and Facebook, invite connections from their friends list and play faster than ever before with a compact game board and fewer tiles. Exclusive to Words With Friends for Instant Games on Messenger is a convenient Games List that allows players to track all of their games in one place, a first for any Words With Friends experience on a messaging platform.  

With every turn of Words With Friends, players receive real-time updates with words played and points scored, delivering a dynamic and engaging experience that is true to the ways they are already connecting on Messenger. Leveraging game bots on Messenger, Words With Friends features notifications that seamlessly remind players when to make their next move. And, for the first time ever in Words With Friends, all connections within a Messenger group can watch the exciting wordie gameplay unfold while simultaneously chatting about strategy, amplifying the overall social experience of the game.

Launched in 2009, Words With Friends has been installed more than 200 million times and is one of the App Store’s Top 10 free games of all time. An estimated 55 million active Words With Friends matches are played around the world at any moment, and more than 75 million words are played every day.

For more information on Words With Friends, visit the game’s community channels on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Game images can be found here: https://zynga.box.com/s/o4vobttja4b1uo3sgr1wcuj05b0drftv

About Zynga Inc.
Since its founding in 2007, Zynga's mission has been to connect the world through games. To-date, more than 1 billion people have played Zynga's games across Web and mobile, including FarmVille, Zynga Poker, Words With Friends, Hit it Rich! Slots and CSR Racing. Zynga's games are available on a number of global platforms including Apple iOS, Google Android, Facebook and Zynga.com. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, Calif., and has additional offices in the U.S., Canada, Finland, U.K., Ireland and India. Learn more about Zynga at http://blog.zynga.com or follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Forward Looking Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including those statements relating to, among other things, the launch of Words With Friends for Instant Games, the game's success and the game's features (including gameplay and social features).  Forward-looking statements often include words such as "outlook," "projected," "intends," "will," "anticipate," "believe," "target," "expect," and statements in the future tense are generally forward-looking. The achievement or success of the matters covered by such forward-looking statements involves significant risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. Undue reliance should not be placed on such forward-looking statements, which are based on information available to us on the date hereof.  We assume no obligation to update such statements.  More information about these risks, uncertainties, and assumptions are or will be described in greater detail in our public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), copies of which may be obtained by visiting our Investor Relations web site at http://investor.zynga.com or the SEC's web site at www.sec.gov.

Contact
Erin Smith-Cheng
[email protected] 
(650) 224-2462