Zynga claims “turnaround is gaining momentum” despite $41.7m loss

Social gaming operator Zynga almost managed to stop the slide in its number of players in the third quarter of 2016.

On Wednesday, Zynga reported revenue of $182.4m in the three months ending September 30. That’s down nearly 7% year-on-year but basically flat from Q2. The company also reported a net loss of $41.7m thanks to $21m in intangible asset impairment and higher costs from the launch of new game titles.

Online game revenue totaled $134m, down 11% year-on-year, while advertising revenue rose 8% to $48m. Bookings, the sale of virtual goods to gamers, rose 13% to $196.7m. Mobile revenue now accounts for 80% of the overall pie, up from 64% in Q3 2015.

Zynga’s average daily active user (DAU) ranks fell 5.2% to 18m, although that’s better than Q2’s 15% fall. The decline was primarily web-based, as web DAUs slipped 21% while mobile DAUs nudged up 1%. Average daily bookings per average DAU improved 16% to 11.6¢ and the number of average monthly unique payers shot up 48% to 1.3m.