Zynga acquires A Bit Lucky to make move on 'mid-core'

Further stepping out of its comfort zone, Zynga has announced it's to make a move on the 'mid-core' gamer thanks to the acquisition of Facebook developer A Bit Lucky.

The Californian studio, which is behind both Lucky Train and Lucky Space, is to be imalgermated into Zynga's existing San Francisco division, helping the firm to broaden its library beyond strictly social releases such as Words With Friends and Draw Something.

"When we're talking about 'mid-core' games, we're talking about deeper, rich gameplay experiences that are attractive to a wide range of players, but are definitely enjoyed by core gamers as well," Zynga manager Bill Jackson told Gamasutra.

"Think deep strategy gameplay...but broadened for the more casual audience."

According to A Bit Lucky – which itself had shut down its Facebook releases to focus on the Unity-powered Solstice Arena, bound for tablets, PC and Mac – the Zynga purchase made perfect sense following the experience it gained publishing Phosphor Games' 3D epic Horn.

"I think there's a very interesting opportunity in mid-core multiplatform games," added A Bit Lucky CEO Frederic Descamps.

"We've seen what it can do with Horn... and Zynga has really unsurpassed expertise when it comes to operating very large-scale games, scaling them up, marketing them to gamers, etcetera. The combination of that plus our expertise in making great games I think will be really interesting."

Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

[source: Reuters]