Zynga and other companies riding high on the social gaming development scene need a reality check, urges Gameloft CFO Alexandre de Rochefort. Speaking at the Reuters Global Technology Summit, he made it clear that he is convinced that social gaming is entering a bubble, one that is likely to burst if measures are not taken soon.
"I am sorry but when Zynga is worth $10 billion something is a bit strange," he said at the summit. "If this is not a bubble, I don't know what is."
His comments examine a possible problem with sustainment of the market, as Gameloft has resisted moving the company to NASDAQ, citing preference to the Paris based Bourse Exchange. Gameloft believes that the prices in the U.S. market are exaggerated, and will not keep up.
Gameloft’s response to a bubble burst is diversification towards the core gaming market, essentially bypassing the social market as a whole. Gameloft has recently announced job postings at their New Orleans based firm with the intent to move into TV games and the Android Marketplace.
"Zynga has made it very clear that their typical client is a female, 40 years old, staying at home in the mid-West," Rochefort added. "Gameloft has not sold a single game to this kind of client in the last 11 years."
De Rochefort’s statements ring close to earlier comments made by Silicon Knights founder Denis Dyack. Dyack believes that Zynga and other companies pushing the social market will inevitably kill it off, causing Facebook gaming to crash, “crash very hard.”
