Will Zynga's "Empires & Allies" be a friend or foe for an IPO?

Social gaming juggernaut Zynga is rolling out the big guns just in time to file for an IPO, which is rumored to take place this week. The San-Francisco-based company is expanding its social engagement takeover even further with "Empires & Allies," a new game that allows players to fight enemies and recruit friends in the joint pursuit of world domination.

Combining the nation building strategy of Risk, gaming elements of "CityVille", and more social features than any other Zynga project, "Empires & Allies" is poised to be Zynga's biggest endeavor yet. The combat play involved in the new game deviates from some of Zynga's staple games, such as "FarmVille," which is played mainly by 25 to 44-year-old women.

"Empires & Allies" debuted today in 12 languages: Malay, Korean, Norwegian, English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Indonesian, Turkish and traditional Chinese. For Zynga, unveiling such an ambitious initiative right before potentially filing for an IPO may prove to be brilliant...or not. Approximately 250 million people play Zynga's games per month. The company's current valuation is at $10 billion.

What do you think? Is "Empires & Allies" a win or a fail? Is it a good idea to launch a product like this right before filing for an IPO?