Zynga is only nominally in the same business as EA and Activision. It is in the business of making games, and so are Activision and EA. But the latter two are r

Zynga is only nominally in the same business as EA and Activision. It is in the business of making games, and so are Activision and EA. But the latter two are really in the business of making hits and nurturing brands and franchises. Zynga is in the business of finding profitable models, arbitraging installs, right-sizing the game model and economics, then replicating over and over again, treating each successful game like a Starbucks location. A very different sort of franchise, you might say. Activision and EA are movie studios. Zynga is a casino. Activision and EA want big hits and loyal fans. Zynga doesn't really care if you've played any of its previous games, or whether you play games at all; it just cares whether you'll play right now. (And maybe later, and later, and then more after that.)