Zynga hires Mortal Kombat co-creator, snaps up A Bit Lucky

Zynga has acquired "mid-core" developer A Bit Lucky, adding some veteran talent to its stables.

Zynga announced the acquisition in a post on the social publisher's website.

A Bit Lucky includes veterans of Trion Worlds and Xfire, and founders Frederic Descamps and Jordan Maynard are coming with the staff of over 20.

The team will continue working on its previous project, Solstice Arena, which will be published by Zynga. It's a multi-platform multiplayer title; Zynga says it's making a push for mid-core, multi-platform development with these acquisitions.

While it was triumphing over new hires, Zynga revealed it's tempted John Tobias to join its fold. Tobias, along with current NetherRealm boss Ed Boon, created Mortal Kombat while at Midway in the 1990's. Another Midway colleague, Mark Turmel, is also on board the new team, which is working on a secret project.

Not content with that, Zynga also announced that Soren Johnson, an AI specialist programmer who was key to Civilization IV and Spore, is working on a new secret game, too.

Zynga could use the extra staff; it's positively faint with blood loss at the moment.

Thanks, GameInformer.