Every Day is Gameday With Zynga's NFL Showdown, Now Available on the App Store and Google Play

NFL Showdown Delivers Fans a New Way to Engage With Their Favorite Football Teams and Athletes All Year Long


SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 4, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zynga (Nasdaq:ZNGA), a leading social game developer, is proud to announce the launch of NFL Showdown, a mobile-first football manager simulation game that delivers fans a new way to connect and compete with their friends every day. NFL Showdown, available today on the App Store for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, and on Google Play, is the first addition to Zynga's multi-game franchise, Zynga Sports 365. The game leverages licensing agreements with the National Football League and NFL Players Inc., the licensing and marketing arm of the NFL Players Association, to bring the real NFL teams and athletes, including their names and likeness, to the game, in order to create a truly authentic football experience that can be enjoyed anytime, anywhere.

"With Zynga Sports 365, we are reimagining what a 21st century sports franchise looks like on mobile. We are developing sports games with the right level of control, community and competition that fit the mobile lifestyle of today's consumer," said Mike Taramykin, Vice President of Zynga Sports 365. "At Zynga, we have teams with deep experience developing high-quality sports franchises. With NFL Showdown, we are marrying our social gaming expertise with the NFL and NFL Players Inc.'s world class brands to provide football fans with compelling experiences that fit into their everyday lives and let them engage with the NFL in a way they never have before."

"We are excited to work with Zynga on NFL Showdown and give football fans a new way to connect with the NFL teams and players they root for every season," said Vishal Shah, NFL Vice President of Media Strategy. "NFL Showdown combines the interactive and social experience that is core to Zynga games with the strategy and competition inherent to football, bringing fans closer to the game they love."

"NFL Showdown is an exciting addition to the portfolio of official licensed games featuring NFL teams and players," said Steven Scebelo, NFL Players Inc. Vice President Licensing and Business Development. "With NFL Showdown, Zynga has created an authentic experience that will appeal to passionate and casual football fans alike, giving them a new way to engage and play with the NFL every day."

NFL Showdown delivers authenticity, accessibility and competition to football fans, letting them take center stage as they manage and control their own NFL team from a hopeful season contender to a potential dynasty. Players can update their roster, choose a starting lineup, sign free agents, train their team, build game day tactics and compete against friends in their quest for the ultimate prize, a Super Bowl victory.

Community is at the core of NFL Showdown, offering players a way to compete against friends and other fans in real-time for wins and bragging rights. And, because every day is gameday, NFL Showdown has no offseason. The game can be played all year long during short seasons where players compete against others in a league, all with the goal of making it to the Super Bowl. NFL Showdown also includes a number of features such as:

  • Daily Showdowns – Players take control of their favorite NFL team and join an authentic 32 team league where, once a day, their team squares off in a showdown against a league rival in a quest to win the season and earn a spot in the Playoffs. In NFL Showdown every day is gameday, so each day players get to prepare, train and strategize with their team, then sit back and watch the action unfold on the field.
     
  • Build and Control an NFL Dream Team – Players can pick their favorite NFL team and create their ultimate starting lineup with real NFL athletes. Once the roster is set, players get to train their team and put their winning strategy to the test.
     
  • Real-Time Fantasy Boosts – During the real world NFL season, NFL Showdown players will receive in-game boosts based on the points they have earned through NFL Fantasy Football, helping increase their chances of winning the season.
     
  • Win a Super Bowl Each Month – Players can lead their team to the Super Bowl every three weeks. As each season passes, players can compete, improve and eventually build the ultimate NFL dynasty.

The game is available for free on the App Store for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch or at www.AppStore.com and on Google Play. NFL Showdown will also be available on Microsoft Windows smartphones and tablets in the coming months, as well as Facebook.

Game logo and images can be found here: https://zynga.box.com/s/c7bvrjj599dsvw8zbrzr

About Zynga Inc.

Zynga Inc. is a leading developer of the world's most popular social games that are played by more than 100 million monthly consumers. The company has created evergreen franchises such as FarmVille and Words With Friends. Zynga's NaturalMotion, an Oxford-based mobile game and technology developer, is the creator of hit mobile games in popular entertainment categories, including CSR Racing, CSR Classics and Clumsy Ninja. Zynga games have been played by more than 1 billion people around the world and are available on a number of global platforms including Apple iOS, Google Android, Facebook and Zynga.com. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, Calif.

Learn more about Zynga at http://blog.zynga.com or follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

The Zynga Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=11743

Forward Looking Statements

This release contains forward looking statements relating to, among other things, the launch of NFL Showdown on iPhone, iPad and Google Play, the game's upcoming launch on additional platforms,features for the game, including features incorporating licensed content, the player and game experience, including how and when our players play the game and the ability of our players to connect and compete with their friends through games, and the success of the game. This release also includes forward looking statements related to Zynga's plans to launch a multi-game sports franchise, Zynga Sports 365, the launch of future sports titles and the potential for the sports category. 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, player interest in NFL Showdown, changes in player interests, our relationship and agreements with platform providers and providers of licensed content, our ability to launch future sports games and features for NFL Showdownand future games in a timely manner and monetize these games and features effectively, our ability to accurately identify and capitalize on the potential for the sports category, our ability to anticipate and address technical challenges that may arise and competition. More information about the risks Zynga faces is included in our 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. We assume no obligation to update such statements.



            

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