Technologies

Grand Theft Auto maker Take-Two is buying FarmVille developer Zynga in $12.7B deal

The deal brings together the company behind NBA 2K and Red Dead Redemption with Zynga, which known for CSR Racing and Words with Friends.

Video game giant Take-Two is acquiring mobile gaming company Zynga in a cash-and-stock deal that the company says will turn the Grand Theft Auto maker into a mobile gaming powerhouse. The deal is valued at around $12.7 billion, or $9.86 per Zynga share.

Take-Two Chief Executive Strauss Zelnick said the deal will benefit both companies, giving Zynga access to the best-selling game franchises Take-Two is known for, while also giving Take-Two access to player analytics, advertising and mobile game making technology that so far it’s lacked. «What we’ve found is that great entertainment wins,» he said in an interview Monday. «It’s really hard to build organically.»

Zynga publishes major social games like FarmVille and Words With Friends. Take-Two already owns game publishers Rockstar, which is behind Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, and 2K, known for BioShock, Borderlands, Civilization and NBA 2K.

Zelnick declined to discuss details of future plans, noting the deal doesn’t close until midyear, but he did say a key opportunity for both companies is in what the industry calls cross-play, where people can play part of or the same full titles on a phone or an video game console or PC. Titles like Epic Games’ Fortnite and Activision Blizzard’s Call of Duty Warfare have significantly grown in popularity in part because of this feature.

«Ultimately the consumer votes,» Zelnick said.

The move marks the latest instance of a large game maker acquiring companies with mobile and social networking expertise to help expand their lineup. Activision Blizzard bought Candy Crush maker King in 2015 for about $6 billion, and Electronic Arts has paid nearly $5 billion over the past decade to buy a string of social, mobile and casual-focused gaming companies including Playdemic, Glu Mobile and Plants vs. Zombies maker PopCap Games.

The acquisition also underscores the challenges both companies are facing in the changing entertainment industry. Take-Two has often turned to outside developers to help make games work on mobile devices, with mixed success. Meanwhile, Zynga’s been recently hit by a one-two punch of easing pandemic restrictions, which have left people with less time to play games, and Apple’s changes to marketing technology, which have made it harder to track users for targeted ads.

Aside from combining two companies with different capabilities, Zelnick said the Zynga acquisition will also help as Take-Two evaluates emerging Web3 technologies, including NFTs and cryptocurrency.

«As long as we’re enhancing the overall entertainment experience, it’s potentially exciting,» Zelnick added.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Sunday, July 13

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for July 13.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s Mini Crossword is a little meta. Two clues refer to Wordle, another super-popular game from The New York Times. We have answers for that puzzle, too. In fact, iff you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Gibbon or gorilla
Answer: APE

4A clue: Bird whose name is an excellent starting guess in Wordle, according to WordleBot
Answer: CRANE

6A clue: Cry from a judge
Answer: ORDER

7A clue: Family nickname that would make a terrible starting guess in Wordle
Answer: MAMMA

8A clue: «Hooray!»
Answer: YAY

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Widespread display
Answer: ARRAY

2D clue: Lakshmi who was a longtime host of «Top Chef»
Answer: PADMA

3D clue: «Don’t let perfect be the ___ of good» (aphorism)
Answer: ENEMY

4D clue: URL ending
Answer: COM

5D clue: Historical period
Answer: ERA

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for July 13, #293

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for July 13, No. 293

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition has some fun categories. There’s only one requiring last names, and one requiring teams, so if you can sort those easily, you should be in good shape. Read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Bad news for a golfer.

Green group hint: Aries animal.

Blue group hint: Think California capital city.

Purple group hint: No charge.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Mess up a golf shot.

Green group: Rams

Blue group: Sacramento Kings greats.

Purple group: Free ____.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is mess up a golf shot. The four answers are duff, flub, mishit and shank.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is rams. The four answers are Colorado State, Los Angeles, Rhode Island and VCU.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is Sacramento Kings greats. The four answers are Divac, Richmond, Stojaković and Webber.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is free ____. The four answers are agent, kick, safety and throw.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for July 13, #1485

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle for July 13, No. 1,485.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle is a fun word, but not easy to guess. That first letter doesn’t come up in any of the starter or secondary words I tend to choose. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.