SoftBank Invests $150M in Zynga

Following the recent move with U-Stream, SoftBank has just announced a $150 Million investment for the social games darling Zynga http://bit.ly/cBDeVA

English Press Release

SAN FRANCISCO and TOKYO - July 29, 2010 - Zynga and SOFTBANK today announced a joint venture that will develop and distribute social games across Japan. The new joint venture, Zynga Japan, brings together leaders in social games and consumer technology to offer millions of new users the ability to play social games anytime and anywhere. In conjunction with today’s announcement, SOFTBANK has completed a $150 million investment in Zynga. With this agreement, Zynga and SOFTBANK will tighten their relationship as business partners.

The joint venture extends Zynga’s reach to a wider global audience and marks the company’s first foray into the rapidly growing internet and mobile market in Japan. Based in Tokyo, Zynga Japan will tap into Japan’s rich history of gaming and leverage SOFTBANK’s cutting edge mobile and Web technology to produce the best social games in the market.

“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 Mark Pincus, CEO and Founder of Zynga. “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.”