Zynga goes bananas for Astro Ape, potential buyout in action [Rumor]

Can we finally give Zynga an ominous title ... like the Ape Assimilator? (It just rolls off the tongue.) Business Insider reports that Zynga, most recently creator of Pioneer Trail, has purchased self-proclaimed mobile social game competitor Astro Ape, most recently known for Monsterz Revenge for iPhone. And no "anonymous sources" even needed to be cited--just look at Linkedin.

Astro Ape CEO Chieh Huang, along with a number of his colleagues, have changed their profile information to positions within Zynga NY, one of the global companies few east coast studios. Specifically, Business Insider cites Astro Ape's director of engineering, who has taken the exact same title within Zynga's New York office.

So, the website deduces that Zynga has more than likely acquired Astro Ape. And what an interesting turn of events. Just recently, Huang called out Zynga, claiming that his studio was better than the omnipresent Facebook games creator.

"It sounds like a basic concept, but I think it's getting lost a bit today in social gaming. Our users come into our apps because they want to play our games, not because we spam them with invites, requests and other offers," Huang said months ago, indirectly referring to Zynga.

Monsterz Revenge
Has Astro Ape bended its stance in the name of the mighty dollar, or does it plan to bring a new breed of mobile game to Zynga? Who knows, but if this turns out to be true, Zynga just employed a brilliant strategy, sway the naysayers.

[Via VentureBeat]

Do you think this is enough proof that Zynga has bought Astro Ape? What do you think Astro Ape would bring to Zynga, and will it involve its existing games?

Could Disney's Playdom be in worse shape than previously thought?

That's what a report by Business Insider looks to get to the bottom of, citing several anonymous sources. The report lists several bulleted claims by unnamed folks close to Playdom that range from a handful of high level execs have left the company recently to Playdom was forced to relinquish control over what games it made to Disney. And the House of Mouse is unsurprisingly reportedly not very happy about it.

"Six top executives at the VP level or above have moved on in the last three months including Playdom's Co-COO," one nameless source told Business Insider. Another source told the website that soon after Disney's $400 million plus acquisition of Playdom, the new parent company quickly "started to come in and ask Playdom to work on certain games and drop others," according to Business Insider.

Another notable takeaway from the report states that "voices within Playdom" said that they didn't see a value in pursuing Disney's lucrative brands within social games, because kids--Disney's target audience--doesn't pay up on Facebook. Other anonymous sources came to Playdom's defense, claiming that the company "is making three or four times as much money off its users as other social gaming companies," Business Insider reports.

Disney issued a response to Business Insider, reminding readers that Gardens of Time has been the company's most successful Facebook game, reaching top five status at one point. More importantly, the company was keen on letting players know that the first social game based on a Disney brand is coming. (We guess this one doesn't count then?)

This is certainly not the first time doomsayers have outed Disney and Playdom as headed for failure. There's no doubt the two companies have dragged their feet ever since joining hands. We've reached out to Playdom for comment.

[Image Credit: Disney]

Do you think Playdom is doomed, or is it just warming up? What do you hope the first Disney Facebook game is like?