DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. (Nasdaq:DWA), Paramount Pictures and Zynga (www.zynga.com) today announced a new in-game item and quest for players of the popular game CityVille to promote the opening of Kung Fu Panda 2, which debuts in theaters on Thursday, May 26th.
Press Release from Zynga
May 20, 2011 -- DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. (Nasdaq:DWA), Paramount Pictures and Zynga (www.zynga.com) today announced a new in-game item and quest for players of the popular game CityVille to promote the opening of Kung Fu Panda 2, which debuts in theaters on Thursday, May 26th. This is the first-ever in-game integration within CityVille, Facebook’s largest and most popular application.
Starting today, CityVille’s more than 88 million monthly players (according to AppData) will be able to place a Kung Fu Panda 2 themed drive-in movie theater in their city. Players who place the theater will also receive collection items, members of Kung Fu Panda’s Furious Five: Tigress, Crane, Mantis, Viper and Monkey. When all five items are collected, an exclusive Po the Panda statue will be unlocked and available to players as a reward for completing the Kung Fu Panda 2 quest.
“Nearly a third of all Kung Fu Panda fans on Facebook have also played CityVille, so the integration is a natural fit and something we think our players will love,” said Manny Anekal, Global Director of Brand Advertising at Zynga. “It’s important that we collaborate with innovative brands like DreamWorks Animation that resonate with and are meaningful to our players and enhance their game play.”
“Our exclusive integration of Kung Fu Panda 2 in Zynga's CityVille gives millions of players a fun and deeply interactive way of connecting with Po and the Furious Five,” said Jason Alex, Head of Online Marketing at DreamWorks Animation. “Po journeys on a memorable kung fu quest in the movie and through this online challenge we’re able to reward fans for further engaging with the characters they love.”
The Kung Fu Panda 2 quest begins today and runs through May 31st on CityVille.
This announcement follows recent Zynga movie-themed integrations with Paramount Pictures to bring Rango into the untamed wilderness of FrontierVille and with DreamWorks Animations on Megamind, where Megamind launched his very own “Mega-Farm” within FarmVille. In the first 24-hour promotion period more than 9 million people engaged with the “Mega-Farm.”
About ZyngaZynga Inc. is the world’s largest social game developer with more than 250 million monthly active users playing their games which include CityVille, FarmVille, FrontierVille, Words With Friends, Mafia Wars, Zynga Poker, Café World, and Treasure Isle. Zynga Inc. games are available on a number of global platforms including Facebook, MySpace, Yahoo, the iPad, the iPhone and Android devices.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
