Poker and slots boost Zynga revenue but can’t convince users to stay

Social casino titles continue to drive Zynga’s bottom line but the company continues to shed users like there’s no tomorrow.

In the three months ending June 30, social gamers Zynga reported a net loss of $4.4m as revenue slipped 9% to $181.7m. The net loss is a step up from the nearly $27m Zynga lost in Q2 2015 and the $62.5m it lost in Q2 2014, so yay progress. Much of this quarter’s improvement came from better cost control and decreased marketing spend.

Online game revenue fell 16% year-on-year to $136m, while advertising and other revenue rose 22% to $46m. Total revenue exceeded Zynga’s earlier forecast of $170m to $180m, but investors were unmoved, pushing the stock down 10% in after-hours trading.

Bookings, the in-game sale of virtual goods, totaled $174.6m in Q2, flat year-on-year but down 4% from Q1. Mobile bookings accounted for $137m of the total, up 19% year-on-year but down 2% from Q1. Zynga’s once dominant web bookings fell from 34% of the total last year to just 21% this time around.