Zynga thinks it could double its paying players after going public

How? No clue, but Zynga CEO Mark Pincus seems to think it's possible. That's what the head of the FarmVille maker told 100 investors at a luncheon (with chicken, mashed potatoes and spinach salad) held in a Boston hotel, according to Reuters. "We could see that doubling," Pincus told the room during a presentation likely similar to the one posted online last week ahead of going public.

However, the Zynga chief gave no time line for the lofty claim, nor how the company would make it happen. As it stands, about 7.7 million of the social game giant's 219 million monthly players were payers for 12 months prior to Sept. 30, according to Reuters. However, Zynga did reveal that it now welcomes 13 million daily players across mobile devices, way up from the recently reported 11.1 million

A hefty chunk of those daily players seems to come from Words With Friends. You know, the game so addicting that it supposedly drove Alec Baldwin to throw a fit on an American Airlines plane? That one. "He wanted to play it even if it meant getting off his flight to play it," Pincus said, revealing that the game gained some 8 million players in the past year.

And, when you think about it, mobile could be exactly where Zynga doubles its paying players. Zynga is full steam ahead on both iPhone and Android phones, having released eight games for the platforms in 2011 alone. The battle plan? Zynga could reach audiences outside of its massive network by gaining prominence on various app stores. And that just might work.

What do you think of Zynga's mobile games thus far? Could the company grow its 3 percent of paying players into 6 or even 10 percent through iPhone and Android?