Why gaming powerhouse Zynga bought Chartboost ... before getting bought by Take-Two

Five days ago, gaming giant Take-Two bought Zynga for $13 billion. But before that, Zynga bought Chartboost for $250 million. What's going on? Why is a gaming company buying an ad network? And what does this say about the future of games and media? In this episode of TechFirst, we chat with Zynga Chief Product Officer Scott Koenigsberg and Chartboost CEO Rich Izzo. Questions we discuss: Zynga bought an ad network for $250M. A decade ago that would have sounded insane. Why? We know Zynga for games. But you’re not the only combination of gaming and adtech. What’s driving this merger frenzy and consolidation? How does having Chartboost make Zynga better? How does having Zynga make Chartboost better? Are there downsides? Competitive issues? What’s evolving in tech and platforms that is changing the competitive landscape? What kind of platform that you can build will be well-optimized for the future state? Zynga has acquired other gaming studios as well. What’s the goal? Mobile was a phase-shift in technology that privileged some platforms and networks and deprioritized others. What’s the next one … do you have metaverse bets, and what kind of timetable to you envision there? How will this change your business? Planning to still be acquisitive? Links: Support TechFirst with $SMRT coins: https://rally.io/creator/SMRT/ Buy $SMRT to join a community focused on tech for good: the emerging world of smart matter. Access my private Slack, get your name in my book, suggest speakers for TechFirst ... and support my work. TechFirst transcripts: https://johnkoetsier.com/category/tech-first/ Forbes columns: https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/  Full videos: https://www.youtube.com/c/johnkoetsier?sub_confirmation=1  Keep in touch: https://twitter.com/johnkoetsier