The social games M&A scene has been quiet recently, but US market leader Zygna has made a very sensible deal picking up Texas outfit Newtoy.

The terms of the acquisition weren't disclosed, but as Newtoy said it was making over $1 million per month from Words With Friends, it would likely be measured in the tens of millions. 

Formed in 2008 by Paul and David Bettner after Microsoft shut down strategy developer Ensemble, its Games With Friends series (including Words With Friends and Chess With Friend), has over five million monthly active users on iOS.

Newtoy also developed the ngmoco published freemium game We Rule.

New owner, new name

The Newtoy office will now be called Zynga With Friends, and as well as leveraging its existing franchise, will build new games for the Zynga network.

Newtoy CEO and co-founder Paul Bettner assumes the role of veep and general manager of the Zynga With Friends studio with David being studio director.

"We're reinventing the way people are social on their mobile devices," said Paul Bettner. "The Zynga With Friends studio will build on the Newtoy legacy of creating approachable, highly social games that are accessible to anyone from anywhere."

"The Games With Friends franchise is the best social game experience available on mobile today and we are excited to welcome the Newtoy team to the Zynga family," said Mark Pincus, Zynga's founder and CEO.

"The Zynga With Friends studio will continue to invent great mobile social game experiences for Zynga users everywhere."

[source: Zynga]