Zynga swings to profit in Q1

FarmVille developer Zynga today announced financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, revealing a profit of $4.1 million on $263.6 million in revenue. This time last year, the company posted a net loss $85.4 million.

"We are encouraged by the strong execution from our teams and the breakout hit performance of FarmVille 2, which captures the imagination of nearly 40 million players every month," Zynga CEO Mark Pincus said in a statement.

"2013 will continue to be a transition year as we face the challenging environment on the web and invest in developing the leading franchises and network across web and mobile platforms and offer our 253 million monthly players a connected experience that can follow them from work to school to home and anywhere in between," he added.

Zynga may have swung to a profit during the quarter, but the company also reported players moving away from its games by the millions.

Daily active users for Zynga games totaled 52 million during the period, down 21 percent from last year's 65 million. Monthly active users were also down in the quarter, decreasing from 292 million to 253 million, a drop of 13 percent year-over-year. Monthly unique users decreased 18 percent year-over-year, from 182 million to 150 million.