Zynga Doubling Staff At Bangalore Studio

Zynga announced the formal launch of Studio-I, its branch set up in Bangalore, India a year ago, as well as plans to double the studio's headcount to around 200 this year. Studio-I is committed to developing new game mechanics, in-game features, and creative elements for Zynga's popular social games, which include titles like CityVille, Mafia Wars, Texas HoldEm Poker, and FarmVille. Along with those goals, Studio-I -- which is Zynga's biggest office outside of the United States -- will engage in full life-cycle game development like the company's other 14+ development houses around the world. To support its projects and growth, Studio-I intends to recruit more engineers, product managers, game designers, artists, and senior management members. Zynga currently has 1,500 employees worldwide. This news follows only a few weeks after reports emerged that Zynga was close to completing a new round of funding for about $500 million, spiking its valuation up to as much as $10 billion. "In only one year, India has made exciting advancements in technology that have truly improved efficiency for the entire company," says Zyngia India's country manager Shan Kadavil. Kadavil adds, "With the launch of Studio-I, we are expanding our capabilities to leverage the amount of creative talent based in India for new features within Zynga's popular games."