SAN FRANCISCO: Zynga Inc., a global leader in interactive entertainment, has entered into an agreement to acquire Istanbul-based Rollic, a mobile games developer and publisher with an exciting portfolio of popular hyper-casual games that have been downloaded more than 250 million times.

Zynga will acquire 80% of Rollic for $168 million in cash. The final upfront transaction consideration will also include customary closing adjustments and is expected to close on October 1, 2020. Over the next three years, Zynga will acquire the remaining 20% in equal installments at valuations based on specific

With this acquisition, Zynga enters the hyper-casual market – one of the largest and fastest growing gaming categories on mobile – and adds a highly talented team and an extensive network of external developers. “Rollic will meaningfully increase our audience and grow our advertising business,” a news release said.

Founded in December 2018 by Burak Vardal, Deniz Basaran and Mehmet Can Yavuz, Rollic is a hyper-casual publisher and game developer based in Istanbul, Turkey. Eight of Rollic’s games have reached #1 or #2 top free downloaded games in the U.S. App Store, and their latest releases, Go Knots 3D and Tangle Master 3D, were the top two most downloaded games in the U.S. App Store in Q2 2020. Rollic’s titles currently have more than 5 million mobile daily active users (DAUs) and 65 million mobile monthly active users (MAUs).

“We are excited to expand into the hyper-casual category with the acquisition of Rollic, one of the fastest growing hyper-casual developers and publishers worldwide in 2020, led by an incredibly creative team,” said Frank Gibeau, Chief Executive Officer of Zynga.

“With Rollic, we are meaningfully growing our audience, expanding and diversifying our global advertising business, and adding to our game pipeline and developer network. Zynga and Rollic are well-positioned to grow faster together.”

“The Rollic team is proud to be joining Zynga,” said Burak Vardal, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Rollic. “Our expertise in hyper-casual is a seamless fit for Zynga’s proficiency in product management, data science, ad monetization and world-class publishing. With Rollic’s robust slate of existing and new hyper-casual games joining Zynga’s portfolio, we look forward to advancing our collective mission to connect the world through games.”

Zynga is a global leader in interactive entertainment with a mission to connect the world through games. To date, more than one billion people have played Zynga’s franchises including CSR RacingTM, Empires & PuzzlesTM, Merge Dragons!TM, Merge Magic!TM, Toon Blast™, Toy Blast™, Words With FriendsTM and Zynga PokerTM. Zynga’s games are available in more than 150 countries and are playable across social platforms and mobile devices worldwide.

Founded in 2007, the company is headquartered in San Francisco with locations in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Ireland, India, Turkey and Finland.

Founded in December 2018, Rollic is an Istanbul-based game developer and publisher, focused on free-to-play hyper-casual games for iOS and Android. Games released by Rollic include Go Knots 3D, Flipper Dunk, Onnect – Pair Matching Puzzle, Pixel Shot 3D, Picker 3D, Repair Master 3D, Tangle Master 3D, Water Shooty, and Wheel Smash. Rollic is committed to producing massively appealing global titles while building a thriving developer ecosystem in the gaming industry.