Zynga on Friday announced its acquisition of the team at startup November Software as part of a move into "mid-core" games with more staying power than passing fad casual titles.

Zynga announced Friday its acquisition of the team at startup November Software as part of a move into "mid-core" games with more staying power than passing fad casual titles.

The new talent is working with Zynga engineers behind hit "Mafia Wars" on a Battlestone project intended to appeal to hardcore videogame lovers who don't have the time they once did to play.

"When we talk about mid-core games, we're really talking about making a deep game experience more accessible," November Software's Szymon Swistun said in a message posted at Zynga's website.

"We know that players, like us, love a good action combat game, so we want to push the limits on social and , and at the same time create an experience that fits around their schedule."

Zynga lost $52.725 million on revenue of $316.637 million in the quarter that ended on September 30 but was so confident in its future that it planned to repurchase $200 million worth of its shares.

The San Francisco-based pioneer also announced a with real-money gaming (RMG) operator Bwin.party to run poker, roulette, and other virtual casino games in Britain.

The number of people playing Zynga games each month climbed to 311 million in a 37 percent increase from the same quarter a year earlier, Zynga reported.

Zynga last month shed workers, shuttered studios and shelved older titles to improve its underlying financial position.

(c) 2012 AFP