but from the start, mark pinkus knew they would, and that's why he owns a $5 million company now.ight, david wright takes us inside. >> reporter: farmville, fishville, frontierville. cafe world. mafia wars. all of those games people play on facebook. it's a virtual world i, for one, have refused to enter. mafia wars i get. >> you played that -- >> reporter: no, i haven't. to be honest, i haven't played any of them. and we'll get to that. >> okay. hopefully we change that. >> reporter: but zynga, the company that makes the games and more, is not exactly hurting for players. the company is raking in the cash. and it ain't monopoly money. i've seen $500 million. is that -- >> won't confirm or deny the presence of revenues at our company. the numbers aren't off. you're in the ballpark. >> reporter: the internet startup, mark pinkus, named for his dog, is not yet a public company. they don't have to disclose how much their make. but it is estimated to be worth more than $5.5 million. that's billion with a b. can't imagine that pitch meeting where you go in and say, okay, i've got this

. >> reporter: when zynga eventually does go public, mark pinkus is poised to become the next silicony billionaire. and you want to be a tycoon? >> i'm more ambitious than that. i want to create something that will matter in 100 years. we have the opportunity to build the digital skyscrapers. this is like 1910. and we have a chance to build the services that will matter in people's lives in 20 years. >> reporter: will it matter? that's debatable. at a time when much of the economy seems to be retrenching, zynga is on a growth streak. this make-believe economy, complete with virtual farms and skyscrapers, seems a lot stronger than the real one the rest of us actually live in. i'm david wright for "nightline" in san francisco. >> you and i, we're not big gamers on the facebook and all that. >> no. >> it is impressive the amount of money being made. zynga hired 850 people in the past year. now they have a total workforce of 1,300 people for an online game. >> it's big business. i wonder if the only work that's getting done are the people at zynga creating the games for people to not do a