Zynga Expands To Europe With Purchase Of Engine Developer Dextrose

Social game company Zynga announced that it has acquired Dextrose, a German game engine studio that will become the first European subsidiary for the FarmVille developer. Dextrose previously developed the Aves Engine, which allows graphically complex games to run in a web browser or on mobile devices using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The Mainz, Germany based studio will become Zynga Germany, and founders Paul Bakaus and Rocco Di Leo will become chief technology officer and country manager, respectively. Zynga has yet to announce its plans for the Dextrose technology and new European branch, only noting that Zynga Germany will focus on the “best in next-generation gaming technology,” as reported by VentureBeat. The Dextrose acquisition marks Zynga's first foothold in Europe, and the company expanded into Asia earlier this year, purchasing XPD Media and Unoh, indicating substantial growth overseas for the company. Other recent Zynga acquisitions include Serious Business and Austin-based Challenge Games. The FarmVille developer operates six of the most popular games on Facebook in terms of monthly users, and has experienced rapid growth in the social games space.