Zynga 4Q loss narrows as game maker cuts costs

Like Facebook, Zynga is trying to position itself as a mobile company as people spend more time on smartphones and tablet computers. The company said it had 72 million monthly players on mobile devices.

"Mobile, however, remains a more fragmented experience. Despite the incredible growth in mobile gaming, it's still hard for any of us to find people to actually play with," Pincus said in a conference call with analysts. "We're amazed that the number one way our 'Words With Friends' players find new opponents in their games is through the 'random' button. We know we can offer them something more compelling than that."

Zynga's chief operating officer, David Ko, said in an interview that growing the company's paying mobile user base is "part of a long-term strategy for us"

"Two years ago, about 20 people were focusing on mobile," he said. "Today we have almost the entire company focused on (the) mobile opportunity."

For the current quarter, Zynga said it expects an adjusted loss of 5 cents to 4 cents per share and revenue of $255 million to $265 million. Analysts were predicting a loss of 1 cent per share and revenue of $268 million.

Shares climbed 19 cents, or 6.9 percent, to $2.93 in after-hours trading after gaining 18 cents to close at $2.74 during the regular session. Zynga's stock has traded from $2.09 to $15.91 in the past 52 weeks.