TheGamingEconomy Daily Digest brings you the trending business stories in gaming. In today’s edition: Outfit7 celebrates over 10 billion downloads; Zynga data breach affects 200 million accounts; and Bungie to release non-Destiny IP by 2025.

Outfit7 celebrates over 10 billion downloads

Mobile developer Outfit7, creator of the Talking Tom and Friends franchise, is celebrating over ten billion app downloads on its tenth anniversary. Chinese firm Jinke Entertainment Culture purchased Outfit7 for a minimum sum of USD$1bn (£813m) in March 2017, with the Slovenia-based developer having reached a sale agreement for the same price just four days previously, with British Virgin Islands-based firm United Luck Group Holdings.

Announcing the news, Xinyu Qian, CEO of Outfit7, said, "It's amazing to think an entire generation has grown up with Talking Tom. We've connected with people from all over the world and brought them excitement, friendship and, most importantly, fun. It's been an amazing ten years with so much growth and so many humbling accomplishments, but we're not slowing down anytime soon. Ten years and ten billion downloads – this is only the beginning."

Zynga data breach affects over 200 million accounts

Mobile gaming giant Zynga has announced a data breach affecting over 200 million accounts, with stolen data thought to include names, email addresses, phone numbers, and Facebook IDs. According to The Hacker News, affected titles include the popular Words with Friends and Draw Something franchises. Firms have been under greater scrutiny for GDPR breaches in recent months, with intended fines of £183.39m and £99m being imposed on British Airways and Marriott respectively.

In a statement on the company website, a Zynga spokesperson said, “Cyber attacks are one of the unfortunate realities of doing business today. We recently discovered that certain player account information may have been illegally accessed by outside hackers. An investigation was immediately commenced, leading third-party forensics firms were retained to assist, and we have contacted law enforcement. Our current understanding is that no financial information was accessed.”

Bungie to release non-Destiny IP by 2025

Destiny developer Bungie is planning to release at least one title from a new franchise by 2025, according to an interview with Bungie CEO Pete Parsons conducted by IGN. “Our vision ultimately through 2025 is to become one of the world’s best entertainment companies,” said Parsons on the decision behind the move.

Bungie entered into a partnership with NetEase in 2018 to “explore new directions”, with this collaboration likely to influence the future direction of new titles. The American developer also cut ties with Activision in January 2019, having been in a publishing rights agreement since 2010.