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Words fail Draw Something developer OMGPOP

Zynga knocks the wind out of it

Words fail Draw Something developer OMGPOP
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| OMGPOP news

OMGPOP, the developer of last year's run-away iOS and Android hit Draw Something and its accomplished sequel, went pop when parent company Zynga stuck the pin in at the beginning of June.

Recent news that Zynga would be canning all remaining OMGPOP social games and shutting the OMGPOP.com website for good on September 30 were just the final nails in this particularly expensive coffin.

But it's now come to light that the OMGPOP team tried to effectively buy back the company - or what little of it remains - only to be rebuffed by Zynga. Boo, and indeed, hiss.

According to TechCrunch, "multiple OMGPOP team members independently tried to buy back the OMGPOP.com site, games, and intellectual property."

A Zynga of an offer

Apparently, these plucky OMGPOP team members were willing to claw back anything that Zynga was willing to sell, even if it didn't include the property that prompted Zynga to launch its short-sighted $180 million takeover in the first place, Draw Something.

Some OMGPOP members even volunteered to work on the OMGPOP.com website for free, claim sources.

So why didn't Zynga relent, you might wonder? Too much legal work, seems to be the somewhat blasé answer. Did we say boo and hiss already?

Instead, OMGPOP and its raft of socially-oriented games have been allowed to go the way of the dodo, and around 30,000 active gamers will be left high and dry.

It's especially sad given claims that OMGPOP's non-Draw Something games were apparently doing alright on their own terms.

Will we ever see Draw Something 3? As Zynga still owns the franchise, there's always a chance. But OMGPOP won't be involved in its creation.

Jon Mundy
Jon Mundy
Jon is a consummate expert in adventure, action, and sports games. Which is just as well, as in real life he's timid, lazy, and unfit. It's amazing how these things even themselves out.