The biggest Facebook-based game publisher Zynga is getting close to offering its stock to the public, if the reports on the Internet are correct. According to the AllThingsDigital web site, via unnamed sources, the company could file for an IPO with the US Securities and Exchange Commission as early as sometime later this week. The filing will be made by next week at the latest, according to the report. Zynga has been rumored to launch a public stock sale for months.
Launched in 2007, Zynga used the Facebook social networking web site as a way to distribute its games. Titles like Farmville, Mafia Wars and more have gained a massive player base thanks to the simple but addictive gameplay for its various titles. microtransaction business model and its way of using Facebook to link players together to give in-game items and other features. Zynga currently has a whopping 250 million monthly active players on Facebook playing its titles. It said that in 2010 it generated $850 million in revenue with $400 million in profits. It has also greatly expanded in terms of workers. It currently has over 1,300 team members, many of which have come to the company from more traditional game publishers like Electronic Arts. It has also been on a buying spree in the past year, acquiring nine small game developers in the US and other parts of the world.
Zynga recently filed documents that suggested that it put the company"s current value at $10 billion. However it"s likely that number will go higher when the IPO actually launches.