Zynga launches website for gamers away from Facebook
Zynga Inc. said that it will launch a website allowing gamers to play their favorite titles away from social media platforms.
According to the Wall Street Journal, popular app maker, Zynga Inc. launched its "Project Z" Thursday, offering gamers to play their favorite games on their website instead of on traditional social media platforms such as Facebook.
The San Fracisco-based maker of titles such as "Words With Friends," "CityVille," and "FarmVille," said that it would allow users to play its five most popular titles in beta versions on their site beginning in March.
Reuters reported that this is the company's largest move to untie itself from Facebook, where it makes over 90 per cent of its current revenue, while providing the popular social media site with 12 per cent of its revenue last year.
"On Facebook, you've built up a rich social identity, and we don't want you to compromise it," Shaffner said. "We just want to think of Facebook as a social graph for your life, and we're building a gaming graph for your play," said Reed Shaffner, the lead product manager of Zynga.com, as quoted by PC World.
The move is being watched by analysts who think that Zynga's movement away from Facebook might mean less time spent on that site.
Yet, Manuel Bronstein, general manager of Zynga.com, told Reuters that the new website was not intended to take users away from Facebook. Rather, it would allow users to separate their gaming from their personal profiles.
"If they want to play on Facebook, if they play on mobile, if they play on the Web, I want them to be connected to Zynga and it cannot be constrained to one single destination," Bronstein said, as quoted by Reuters.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, users playing on Zynga.com will still be able to seemlessly continue their game on Facebook.
The service will begin in March and allow for live chatting with other users and a message board for help with the games.
Zynga's shares soared 10 per cent to $14.48 after the announcment.
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