Zynga with Friends

Zynga with Friends (formerly Newtoy, Inc.) is a video game developer founded in 2008 by brothers Paul Bettner and David Bettner, and their cousin Michael Chow. It is one of the four game developers that was formed after the disbanding of Ensemble Studios, the other three being Robot Entertainment, Windstorm Studios, and Bonfire Studios, which has since been acquired by Zynga and renamed Zynga Dallas. In November 2008, Newtoy, Inc. released its first known game for the iPhone and iPod touch, Chess with Friends, an online game released for the Apple App Store. Later, in August the following year, it released its second known game for iPhone and iPod touch, Words with Friends, another online game with a format almost exactly identical to Scrabble, which ultimately became their best known game. In November 2010, the company was acquired by Zynga for $53.3 million, and was rebranded as Zynga with Friends in December 2010. Newtoy was the fourteenth company to be acquired by Zynga during its peak years.

After nearly two years since the company's previous game release, Zynga with Friends released its third game for iPhone and iPod touch, Hanging with Friends, on June 9, 2011, followed by Scramble with Friends the following year. Attempting to capitalize on the breakthrough success of Words with Friends, Zynga re-launched Zynga With Friends as a stand-alone social network in June 2012. By the autumn of that year, it was clear that the Zynga With Friends social network had not been a success; the Bettner brothers left the company as Zynga's stock price plummeted.