Report: Zynga Raising Nearly $500 Million In Newest Round

Social game developer Zynga could soon complete a $500 million round of financing, double the amount predicted earlier this week -- valuing the company at as much as $10 billion. Several sizable investors are participating in the round, including Morgan Stanley, T.Rowe Price, Fidelity Investments, and existing backer Kleiner Perkins, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal's blog All Things Digital, which cited multiple private sources. Several days ago, the San Francisco-headquartered firm was said to be picking up $250 million from major banks and mutual funds, which put its valuation around $7 billion to $9 billion. Zynga hasn't commented on the financing, but the company is expected to close the round in the coming weeks. Founded in 2007, Zynga has raised at least $360 million from investors, including $150 million from Japanese telecommunications firm Softbank last summer (which it formed Tokyo-based joint venture Zynga Japan with) and $180 million from multiple parties in December 2009. It's also rumored to have received between $100 million to $200 million from Google last year as part of a partnership that will see the FarmVille/CityVille developer supporting the launch of an unannounced social network from the search company to rival Facebook. Zynga has taken advantage of that funding to expand its staff and acquire smaller social game companies -- it now has some 1,500 employees and at least 15 development studios around the world, most of which have been opened or purchased in the past year.