We posted Draw Something: Doodles that Go to Extremes earlier which celebrates the talent that takes the simple doodling game Draw Something to great heights. The post got an overwhelming response, with many suggestions pouring in about where else we can find awesome doodles like the ones showcased. And we thought, why not make a second part to show everyone what we found?
While Zynga would not confirm the news earlier this morning, it now says Draw Something has passed 50 million downloads. It hit 50 million downloads in 50 days. Zynga also says more than 6 billion drawings have been created.
Appdata charts suggest Draw Something downloads have slowed since Zynga's acquisition of OMGPOP 14 days ago.
But Appdata only shows data from people who play Draw Something via Facebook login. Having spoken with CEO Dan Porter prior to OMGPOP's acquisition, a good chunk of Draw Something's users don't use Facebook to play the game.
As the dust settles after Zynga’s purchase of New York mobile social game developer OMGPOP, the company is visibly taking on a new shape. A 25% larger and more mobile one. That’s the percentage growth of its total daily active user base, when you add in the 14.6 million people playing mobile sketching app Draw Something to its existing 55 million players.
Here are some reasons why Draw Something went viral, according to product design shop Bonobo Labs.
Zynga just bought OMGPOP, the developer of hit app Draw Something, for ~$200 million just last week after the app took off like a rocket.
But how was it so successful?
Nabeel Hyatt, a former Zynga general manager, has given a few reasons in a response on Quora:
Zynga Inc. is buying OMGPOP, maker of the popular video game “Draw Something” in its biggest acquisition to date as the company moves to expand its lineup of games on mobile devices and Facebook.
A source familiar with the matter told Reuters that Zynga bought the New York-based company for about $200-million (U.S.). The company declined to comment on the deal’s financials on a conference call on Wednesday.
I have never been much of an artist. Ask me to draw a cat and you may end up with a picture of a horse that looks like it is high on something. I’ve since left my artistic side to wither in a corner so it can die a lonely, peaceful death. It wasn’t until I’ve heard of, tried out and have since been suffering from the withdrawal symptoms of being away from Draw Something by OMGPOP that I figure that there is still hope for people like me. But I digress.
Draw Something proves that if you provide an outlet for imagination, the whole world will play. One month after launch, OMGPOP’s CEO tells me its Pictionary-style mobile game now has 12 million downloads, around 7.1 million daily active users, and is the #1 free and paid game on both the U.S. App Store and Android Market (Google Play). If Draw Something can hold our attention now that it’s got it, the game could become the most popular thing on mobile since those disgruntled birds.
