Zynga continues to loosen it's ties with Facebook this week by relaunching its own social gaming site zynga.com. The big difference now is that players who wish to use the games can do this directly through Zynga and not have to sign into Facebook. It's a big step in their growing separation from the social media giant. The partnership between the two has of course, over the years, been both a very profitable and enjoyable one for both parties, however recently that relationship has become a little strained and Zynga has for a while wanted to distance itself. Both of course are very influential names however the time seems right for a change with Tim Catlin, general manager of Zynga.com saying that, "You had to use your Facebook account to play previously, but this is going to change going forward," and he also mentioned that he believed players of Zynga games wanted something separate from Facebook with different user names and not their real names that are tied to their Facebook accounts. Players will however still be able to log in to the new Zynga site with their Facebook accounts, however now they have the choice to have their own Zynga account.
Moving Forward
The new site has been in the pipeline for a year or more now and Catlin adds regarding the sign up and play process, "We've been able to greatly streamline that process." Zynga's rapid growth was due to the fact that they had such a strong relationship with Facebook, being able to offer games to a network of that size is a great head start, however it did work both ways as although around 90% of Zynga's revenue was generated through Facebook, estimates put the 15% of Facebook's income was derived because of the Zynga offerings. As social gaming grew many thought that Zynga should have cut it's ties with Facebook some time ago instead of being wholly dependent upon it, and the came under a little fire for not doing so. Zynga shares rose slightly on the news and it will be interesting watching the growth of the new Zynga site.
