Zynga Moves FarmVille From Facebook to iPhone to iPad

FarmVille, the real-time farming simulation game, is coming to the iPad. Think watching grass grow is a bore? Think again. The blockbuster Facebook app has engrossed more than 60 million fans around the globe and has become a popular iPhone app too. The move to the iPad marks a first for developer Zynga, which will earn estimated revenues of more than $500 million this year.

What's significant isn't so much the release of FarmVille for iPad owners, but the rapid expansion of Zynga to new platforms. In a space once dominated by mammoth corporations such as Activision and EA, Zynga's massive success demonstrates that indie houses are becoming the most robust players in the app market. Only last week, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg lauded Zynga for its efforts as an "underdog" fighting established gaming companies.

What's more, Zynga illustrates the potential of cross-platform development. The company's apps are simple--basic graphics and gameplay that takes advantage of social media--but the scalability is endless. FarmVille started as a Facebook app before heading to the iPhone and now iPad. We should expect Zynga's full roster to join it soon--Mafia Wars, anyone?--and eventually make to Android and other platforms.

In the past, games took forever to port, with users having to wait months before popular games headed to the Xbox or PS3 or PC. In the app world, however, scale is not an issue of time.

All right, now I must get back to tending my crops. On the iPad.

FarmVille Creator Zynga Worth More than Electronic Arts According to Valuation

According to SharesPost Inc., which handles trades for shares of privately held companies, FarmVille creator Zynga has been valued at an estimated $5.51 billion. This tops Electronic Arts' $5.22 billion valuation as calculated by its NASDAQ stock price (via Bloomberg).

Keep in mind that Zynga is not a publicly traded company and this valuation is based upon what people are spending for shares or stake in the company. This is similar to when Microsoft dropped $240 million into Facebook for a 1.6 percent stake in the social network, valuing Facebook at $15 billion.

Zynga might not actually be worth $5.51 billion, but at least some people think it is and when dealing with that stock market, that's usually enough. "The valuation is not that crazy, given what's going on in the market," said Atul Bagga, an analyst at ThinkEquity LLC. "It's not that terribly expensive seeing the growth prospects." Bagga "estimates the virtual goods market may reach $3.6 billion in three years," according to Bloomberg.

Activision Blizzard is currently sitting at $13.9 billion valuation, while China's Tencent Holdings Ltd. comes in at a whopping $43 billion. FarmVille's success continues to mystify me. It's no Cow Clicker, though.