Facebook without "FarmVille" and "Mafia Wars"? Some Facebook members wouldn't miss them. (And some of us make a point of hiding them!) For other Facebook fans, though, the Palo Alto upstart's social-networking site wouldn't be the same without them.Facebook and Zynga today announced a five-year deal that will keep the San Francisco upstart's social games on Facebook, while expanding the use of Facebook Credits within Zynga's games.
"Facebook was a pioneer in opening their platform in 2007 and in just three years tens of millions of Facebook users play our games everyday, from 'FarmVille' and 'Cafe World' to 'Treasure Isle' and 'Mafia Wars,' " Zyngus founder and CEO Mark Pincus said in a statement today. "We are excited about Facebook's long-term commitment to social gaming and Zynga."According to reports in blogs such as TechCrunch and VentureBeat, the deal came after negotiations between the companies over the use of Facebook Credits that were so tense Zynga was considering leaving Facebook.
Zynga said it's testing Facebook's virtual currency in selected games, and plans to roll it out in other titles in coming months. Other terms of the deal weren't disclosed.
Social games may be virtual, but there's real money to be made for companies such as Facebook and Zynga. According to a Bloomberg News report, ThinkEquity estimates social games will generate $2 billion in sales by 2012.
Read More>>
No comments:
Post a Comment