MUMBAI: Zynga, the company behind the popular Facebook game FarmVille, is officially filing for an initial public offering (IPO).

The social gaming giant is hoping to raise $1 billion in its offering.

A portion of the shares will be issued and sold by Zynga, and a portion will be sold by certain stockholders of Zynga.

 
According to Zynga, it has more than 232 million average MAUs [Monthly Active Users] in 166 countries. It launched the most successful social games in the industry in each of the last three years and has generated over $1.5 billion in cumulative bookings since inception in 2007. 

 
Zyngas social games include FarmVille, Mafia Wars, CityVille, Words with Friends and Zynga Poker.
Zynga‘s IPO estimates are much higher than other recent technology and web-based companies such as Groupon with a $750 million expected IPO and CafePress, which is looking for an $80 million IPO.