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Zynga plays BLAME GAME with Facebook as stock tanks 40%

Zuck to face Wall Street with first earnings report

Online gaming outfit Zynga has partly blamed competition being opened up on Facebook's platform for the maker of Farmville having to revise down its outlook for the year.

The company, which claims some 300 million monthly users, is also struggling to quickly release new games onto the market.

We are lowering our outlook to reflect delays in launching new games, a faster decline in existing web games due in part to a more challenging environment on the Facebook web platform, and reduced expectations for Draw Something.

Zynga's chief Mark Pincus said the company had "faced new short-term challenges which led to a sequential decline in bookings" during the quarter.

Net losses continued for a second quarter at the San Francisco-based gaming firm, with Zynga bleeding nearly $23m during the three months ended 30 June, compared with a $1.4m profit in the same period in 2011.

It reported total revenues of $332m with advertising sales looking particularly brisk.

Despite that, the company has been forced to press reset on its outlook for the year – a move that displeased Wall Street.

Shares in Zynga tanked by 40 per cent in after-hours trading, falling to $3.20.

Stock in Facebook – which will announce its first quarterly results today – followed suit, tumbling 6 per cent to $27.29 before the bell on Wall Street. ®

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