Zynga Files for IPO

Zynga, creator of the inexplicably popular Facebook games FarmVille, CityVille, and Mafia Wars, as well as the new owners of the popular "...With Friends" series for iPhone and Android devices, has proposed its initial public offering to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The number of shares and the price range is yet to be determined, but various commentators expect the offering to be in the range of $15 to $20 billion. Zynga is the biggest social game developer in the world, with more monthly active users for its games than the next 15 developers combined, according to AppData. And a Zynga game has been the most popular game on Facebook every month since the start of 2009.

Zynga's expansion plan for the future claims that it plans to "make games accessible and fun, enhance existing franchises, launch new games, continue mobile growth, continue international growth, extend [its] technology leadership position" and "increase monetization of its games." The company notes that risks to its business including being "unable to maintain a good relationship with Facebook" along with "rely[ing] on a small percentage of our players for nearly all of our revenue."

The company accepted an investment last summer from Softbank, which is looking for a return its infusion.

However many players are actually spending real money on Zynga titles, it's clearly working for the company -- Bloomberg Businessweek reported last October that Zynga had outstripped EA in terms of estimated worth, and analysts estimate the company is worth considerably more than that now.

You can read the company's S-1 form here.

This article originally appeared on GamePro.com as Zynga Files for IPO

This story, "Zynga Files for IPO" was originally published by GamePro.