Candy Crush Saga's King said to be eyeing up an IPO

Social games studio King is said to be preparing an initial public offering following the success of Candy Crush Saga on Facebook and mobile, according to media reports. The Wall Street Journal says that King has talked to a string of banks regarding the handling of a potential IPO, sourcing "people familiar with the move." Although King would not comment on whether it plans to go ahead with IPO plans, and when it would aim to do so, the company said that "one option would be to take the company public." It later added that an IPO was "an option for the future." Gamasutra has contacted King for additional information. Notably, King recently made the decision to remove all in-app advertising from its games, suggesting that its microtransaction business is strongely driving company profits. Notably, the last time a large-scale social games company filed for an IPO was Zynga back in 2011, and that didn't go so well for the FarmVille studio. Angry Birds creator Rovio has also said that it is eyeing up a potential IPO, although there's no saying if and when that will occur.