Zynga and Time Inc.’s People® Partner for the Debut of Crosswords With Friends

New Mobile Game Reimagines the Classic Pastime in a Pop Culture-Inspired Experience on iOS and Android


SAN FRANCISCO, May 04, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zynga (Nasdaq:ZNGA), a leading social game developer, and Time Inc.’s People, the leading authority on celebrity, pop culture and entertainment news, today announced the launch of Crosswords With Friends, Zynga’s latest addition to its With Friends games collection, which includes Words With Friends, one of the world’s most popular word games. The free-to-play Crosswords With Friends game is available today on the App Store for iPhone, iPad and iMessage and on Google Play for Android devices.

From the team who brought Words With Friends to hundreds of millions of players around the globe, Crosswords With Friends tests players’ brain power with fresh, topical puzzles delivered daily. Whether it’s Movie Monday, Top 40 Thursday or Sports Fan Friday, there are more ways than ever before to demonstrate your pop culture prowess. Through a cross-platform partnership with People, every Sunday, players can test their celebrity knowledge with an exclusive People crossword featuring themes inspired by the brand’s iconic franchises, including Sexiest Man Alive, World’s Most Beautiful and Red Carpet as well as its vertical content (PeopleStyle, PeopleRoyals, PeoplePets), and more.

Crosswords With Friends is a daily crossword puzzle experience that’s truly written for today’s world,” said Jeb Balise, General Manager of Crosswords With Friends at Zynga. “As a part of Zynga’s portfolio of word and puzzle games, including one of the world’s most popular word games, Words With Friends, Crosswords With Friends reimagines crosswords with content inspired by the hottest trends and breaking news in entertainment. We’re proud to partner with People, the pioneer of pop culture conversations, to deliver an exciting crosswords experience to fans of all ages.”

“People’s Puzzler has always been one of the brand’s most popular features, so our partnership with Zynga is an organic extension,” said Jess Cagle, Editor in Chief, People.  “Crosswords With Friends allows us the opportunity to expose our digital content to new audiences in new ways on the mobile platform.”

With daily content developed by a team of 30 acclaimed crosswords constructors, including Trip Payne, co-star of the crossword documentary Wordplay, and Amy Reynaldo, author of How to Conquer the New York Times Crossword, each puzzle delivers fans unparalleled gameplay. In the Crosswords With Friends iMessage app, players can experience all the fun of crosswords right where they are already chatting with their friends and family. Crosswords With Friends also seamlessly connects to Words With Friends, allowing fans to simultaneously test their vocabulary and entertainment trivia skills in two unique wordie experiences. 

Crosswords With Friends is the latest addition to Zynga’s portfolio of word and puzzle games, joining the iconic favorite, Words With Friends. Launched in 2009, Words With Friends has been installed more than 200 million times and is one of the App Store's Top 10 free games of all time. Millions of Words With Friends matches are played around the world at any moment, and more than 75 million words are played every day. 

Crosswords With Friends is available to download for free today on the App Store and Google Play.  
For more information about Crosswords With Friends, visit the game’s community channels on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Game logo and images can be found here: https://zynga.box.com/s/dqa6652maiqi2469xj8iu2nf9kvtoxto

About Zynga Inc.
Since its founding in 2007, Zynga's mission has been to connect the world through games. To-date, more than 1 billion people have played Zynga's games across Web and mobile, including FarmVille, Zynga Poker, Words With Friends, Hit it Rich! Slots and CSR Racing. Zynga's games 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., and has additional offices in the U.S., Canada, Finland, U.K., Ireland and India. Learn more about Zynga at http://blog.zynga.com or follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

About People
Time Inc.'s People revolutionized personality journalism when it launched as a weekly in 1974 with a mission to celebrate extraordinary people doing ordinary things and ordinary people doing extraordinary things.  Ubiquitous and still at the center of pop culture more than 40 years later, the People brand is accessible across all media and platforms (print, digital, video, OTT, mobile, social) bringing millions of consumers a unique mix of breaking entertainment news, exclusive photos, video, unparalleled access to the red carpet, celebrities, and in-depth reporting on the most compelling newsmakers of our time. An essential component of People's editorial vision remains human interest stories, which touch and often mirror the lives of our passionate audience. And now, the People/Entertainment Weekly Network app offers a free, advertiser-supported OTT streaming video service.  People is an award-winning 24/7 news organization headquartered in NYC with reporters worldwide. For more information, visit People.com and Timeinc.com, and follow @people on Twitter and Instagram, @peoplemag on Facebook, and the People channel on YouTube and on Snapchat's Discover.

About Time Inc.
Time Inc. (NYSE:TIME) is a leading content company that engages over 150 million consumers every month through our portfolio of premium brands across platforms. Our influential brands include People, Time, Fortune, Sports Illustrated, InStyle, Real Simple and Southern Living, as well as more than 50 diverse titles in the United Kingdom. 

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including those statements relating to, among other things, the launch of Crosswords With Friends, the game's success and the game's features (including gameplay and social features).  Forward-looking statements often include words such as "outlook," "projected," "intends," "will," "anticipate," "believe," "target," and "expect," and statements in the future tense are generally forward-looking. The achievement or success of the matters covered by such forward-looking statements involves significant risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. Undue reliance should not be placed on such forward-looking statements, which are based on information available to us on the date hereof.  We assume no obligation to update such statements.  More information about these risks, uncertainties, and assumptions are or will be described in greater detail in Zynga and Time Inc. public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), copies of which may be obtained by visiting their respective Investor Relations web sites at http://investor.zynga.com and https://invest.timeinc.com/invest/invest-overview/default.aspx, or the SEC's web site at www.sec.gov.


            

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