Zynga Opens Japanese Studio

Zynga has partnered with telecommunications and media firm Softbank to develop and distribute social games across Japan.

The new joint venture, Zynga Japan, was officially announced as Softbank completed a $150 million investment in the San Francisco headquartered Farmville maker.

The deal marks the developer’s first foray into the Japanese market, for which it will create social games out of new Tokyo-based studio Zynga Japan.

“Zynga is a leader in social games and I am delighted to partner with them to introduce their social games to Japan,” said Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of Softbank. “We share the same vision as Zynga in social games and look forward to working together to create a social game powerhouse.”

"We're excited to partner with Softbank to bring Zynga's social games to Japan and gain insights from the Japanese market," said Zynga CEO Mark Pincus. "As one of the most innovative technology companies in the world, Softbank is bringing the mobile internet to consumers making the social web more accessible to people everywhere."