Zynga Inc will shed 15 percent of its workforce to slash costs and purchase mobile game developer NaturalMotion for $527 million to refresh a stalled games pipeline, moves that sent its stock soaring 20 percent in after-hours trading.Chief Executive Officer Don Mattrick, hired last year, is taking aggressive action to revive a company that developed "Farmville" and once dominated gaming on Facebook Inc's social network, but is now struggling to adapt to the rise of mobile gaming.Zynga's largest acquisition to date, NaturalMotion is a 12-year-old studio that has created games like "Clumsy Ninja" for Apple Inc mobile devices. NaturalMotion is known for its Euphoria game engine, whose simulation technology has helped create powerful visuals in games like "Grand Theft Auto V"."NaturalMotion significantly expands our creative pipeline and accelerates our mobile growth," chief operating officer Clive Downie said in an interview. "They are not an acquisition to fill a gap but one to expand our capabilities."
Apple Inc. (Apple) designs, manufactures and markets mobile communication and media devices, personal computers, and portable digital music players, and a variety of related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications. Shares of AAPL fell by 0.19% or $-0.968/share to $499.78. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $385.10 and as high as $575.14. On average, 11728900 shares of AAPL exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 24251828.
Zynga Inc. (Zynga) is the provider of social game services. Shares of ZNGA traded higher by 4.09% or $0.14/share to $3.56. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $2.50 and as high as $4.55. On average, 20431300 shares of ZNGA exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 29094284.
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