SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 1, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zynga (Nasdaq:ZNGA), the world's leading provider of social game services, today announced a partnership to bring world-renowned chef and founder of the Food Revolution, Jamie Oliver, to ChefVille. Starting today, Oliver will infuse his passion for sustainable, unprocessed and fresh cuisine into ChefVille, taking players on a series of quests centered on growing your own produce and simple cooking. ChefVille's millions of players will be able to make smart choices while manning the stoves in their restaurants – cooking up healthful, fresh food that tastes as good as it looks. Players will also have the opportunity to contribute to Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, a global movement that allows people who love food to come together to share information, talents and resources, through the work of Jamie's global charities.

ChefVille, which launched in August, is Zynga's newest take on restaurant games – delivering players a unique culinary experience that allows them to create and run the restaurant of their dreams and master a variety of cuisines from around the world, while unlocking real-life recipes and connecting with family and friends.

"Good food is for everyone, wherever you are in the world, and if you know how to cook, you've got an incredibly valuable life-skill. Arming and inspiring ChefVille players with the means to develop their cooking skills and food knowledge – while having fun – is a brilliant way to motivate people to cook from scratch at home using quality fresh ingredients, and to ignite their interest in food," said Jamie Oliver. "Through my books and TV series, campaigns, Food Revolution Day and now social games like Zynga's ChefVille, I'm trying to inspire change in people's eating habits and show just how easy it is to cook fresh, nutritious and delicious food no matter who you are or where you live."

Throughout the next two weeks, ChefVille players will be guided by Oliver's ChefVille avatar through a series of quests concocted by the chef – ranging from simple cooking with fresh ingredients to sustainable produce cultivation. Players will also have the opportunity to contribute to the real food movement by purchasing a charity pack in ChefVille that includes limited edition virtual goods, with Zynga and Facebook donating all proceeds from the charity pack purchases to Jamie's global charities.

"ChefVille is all about smart ingredients that matter. From going to the butcher to purchase organic meats to visiting the farmers market for fruits and vegetable – players are immersed in a culinary world that encourages local, sustainable and healthful eating," said Jason Everett, Executive Producer of ChefVille, Zynga. "We are excited to bring Jamie Oliver's passion for healthy living through food to ChefVille – giving players an opportunity to learn from this renowned chef, while also giving our players a chance to give back to others through charitable contributions to the Jamie Oliver Food Revolution."

Jamie Oliver ChefVille quests include:

• Cultivating and crafting – Players learn the importance of sustainability by growing fresh ingredients in recycled garden containers that they build from scratch using discarded materials like an old boot and broken pot.
• Real ingredients – Players harvest fresh produce such as carrots, lettuce and peppers to cook and serve up delicious meals directly to their friends.
• Lend a hand – Players help neighbors by tending to their gardens and produce stands.
• Dine and contribute – Players can purchase a charity pack in ChefVille that includes items such as an English garden and a topiary.

Jamie Oliver is the founder and driving force who inspired millions around the world to join the Food Revolution. In 2010, as part of the ABC TV series, Jamie's Food Revolution, Jamie worked to improve school food and set up a community kitchen in Huntington, West Virginia to teach people how to cook from scratch. The show received a great response and a second series followed, tackling school food and eating habits in Los Angeles. Jamie set up the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation, a non-profit organization, to continue this work across America and inspire people everywhere to stand up for real food. The Food Revolution is now a global movement, reaching communities around the world through a network of volunteers, tackling the obesity epidemic and diet-related diseases with better food education and cooking fresh, real food from scratch. 

ChefVille is free to play on Facebook at http://apps.facebook.com/ChefVille and on Zynga.com.

The ChefVille logo and game images can be found here: https://zynga.box.com/s/fj58syz889vnn4n5nmnt

More information can also be found via the Zynga blog at http://blog.zynga.com/2012/11/01/chefville-and-jamie-oliver/

About Zynga Inc.

Zynga Inc. is the world's leading provider of social game services with approximately 311 million monthly active users playing its games, which include Zynga Poker, Words With Friends, Scramble With Friends, Gems With Friends, Draw Something, FarmVille2, ChefVille, CityVille, Bubble Safari and Ruby Blast. Zynga's games are available on a number of global platforms, including Facebook, Zynga.com, Google+, Tencent, Apple iOS and Google Android. Zynga is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

About the Food Revolution

The Food Revolution is a global movement that allows people who love food to come together to share information, talents and resources and also to pass on their knowledge and highlight the world's food issues. All around the globe, people work together to make a difference. The Food Revolution is about connecting with your community in schools, restaurants and local businesses. We want to inspire change in people's food habits and to promote the mission for better food and education for everyone.

About Jamie Oliver's Global Charities

Jamie's foundation projects span three continents. In the UK, the Better Food Foundation oversees the Fifteen Apprenticeship Programme, Ministry of Food and Kitchen Garden Project. In the U.S., the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation, a 501c3 non-profit organization, works to bring food education to schools and youth groups, businesses and communities through raising awareness, meaningful partnerships and hands-on training. In Australia the Ministry of Food works in partnership with The Good Foundation to bring hands-on cooking skills to local communities.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements relating to, among other things, Zynga's partnership with Jamie Oliver and the Food Revolution, the launch of features and quests in ChefVille, the success of ChefVille and Zynga's future operational plans for its business. The success of the matters covered by such forward-looking statements involves risks. Actual results could differ materially from those predicted or implied. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, among other things, changes in player interests, our relationship and agreements with Facebook or the Facebook platform. More information about the risks Zynga faces is included in the quarterly and annual reports filed with the SEC, copies of which may be obtained at http://investor.zynga.com or the SEC's web site at www.sec.gov. Undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements in this release. Zynga assumes no obligation to update such statements.