Social mobile game publisher Zynga has teamed up with Time Inc.’s entertainment publication People to launch Crosswords With Friends.
It’s another addition to Zynga’s With Friends category pioneered by Words With Friends, and it is available today as a free-to-play game on iOS and Google Play. Zynga dominates this puzzle category with hundreds of millions of Words With Friends players, and it is rolling out the crosswords games in hopes of capturing more fans of brain games.
Crosswords With Friends fans will be able to engage with each other via activities such as Movie Monday, Top 40 Thursday, or Sports Fan Friday. The partnership with People is a first. Every Sunday, players can test their celebrity knowledge with an exclusive People crossword featuring themes inspired by the People’s magazine issues such as Sexiest Man Alive, World’s Most Beautiful, and Red Carpet.
“Crosswords With Friends is the first daily crossword puzzle experience that’s truly written for today’s world,” said Jeb Balise, general manager of Crosswords With Friends at Zynga, in a statement. “As a part of Zynga’s portfolio of word and puzzle games, including the world’s most popular word game, Words With Friends, Crosswords With Friends reimagines crosswords with content inspired by the hottest trends and breaking news in entertainment. We’re proud to partner with People, the pioneer of pop culture conversations, to deliver an exciting, mind-puzzling crosswords experience to fans of all ages.”
“People’s Puzzler has always been one of the brand’s most popular features, so our partnership with Zynga is an organic extension,” said Jess Cagle, editor in chief at People, in a statement. “Crosswords With Friends allows us the opportunity to expose our digital content to new audiences in new ways on the mobile platform.”
Zynga has 30 crosswords creators working on daily content for the game. The creators include Trip Payne, co-star of the crossword documentary Wordplay, and Amy Reynaldo, author of How to Conquer the New York Times Crossword.
In the Crosswords With Friends iMessage app, players can experience all the fun of crosswords right where they are already chatting with their friends and family. Crosswords With Friends also seamlessly connects to Words With Friends, allowing fans to simultaneously test their vocabulary and entertainment trivia skills in two unique wordie experiences.
Launched in 2009, Words With Friends has been installed more than 200 million times and is one of the App Store’s Top 10 free games of all time. An estimated 55 million active Words With Friends matches are played around the world at any moment, and more than 75 million words are played every day. Zynga has also launched Boggle with Friends and GIFs Against Friends.