[casual_games] EVIL MONSTERS MAKE UP: Facebook And Zynga Enter Into Five Year Partnership, Expand Use Of Facebook Credits

[oscar is oscar]

Guess this means that Zygna will continue annoying me with crop sharing
applications.
40 acres and a mule, indeed.

http://techcrunch.com/2010/05/18/facebook-and-zynga-enter-into-five-year-partnership-expand-use-of-facebook-credits/

Facebook and Zynga have just
announced<http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/facebook-and-zynga-enter-into-long-term-relationship-94137269.html>a
five year partnership and the expansion of use of Facebook Credits in
Zynga games.

After months of discord, Zynga and Facebook have made peace– at least for
now. Despite Zynga’s earlier
frustrations<http://techcrunch.com/2010/05/08/zyngas-struggle-for-independence-bailing-on-tagged-zlive-to-launch-soon/>and
reports that it was ready to abandon Facebook, the two companies were
able to agree to a “five-year strategic relationship.” “Facebook was a
pioneer in opening their platform in 2007 and in just three years tens of
millions of Facebook users play our games every day, from FarmVille and Café
World to Treasure Isle and Mafia Wars,” Zynga CEO Mark Pincus said in the
press release. “We are excited about Facebook’s long-term commitment to
social gaming and Zynga, and look forward to working with them and other
platform providers to bring the best social gaming experience to users
worldwide.”

Although Zynga and Facebook are now tied together for at least the next five
years, don’t expect Zynga to abandon its Zynga Live project and other
avenues that will help it grow more independent of the social networking
site. We hear that the game developer is still ramping up for its
independent projects.

Another interesting part of the announcement is the expansion of Zynga’s use
of Facebook Credits, the social network’s virtual currency. Zynga and
Facebook most recently
sparred<http://techcrunch.com/2010/05/07/zynga-gunning-up-and-lawyering-up-for-war-against-facebook-with-zynga-live/>over
Facebook’s Credits initiative. As the only payment platform on the
site, Facebook would slice 30% off publisher revenues (which is the standard
cut for Facebook). Zynga was of course trying to negotiate to lower
Facebook’s cut. Negotiations between the two were “intense,” according to
our sources, with Facebook threatening to shut down Zynga games altogether.
It’s unclear what the breakdown is for the new agreement and if Zynga
managed to lower Facebook’s percentage but surely this new partnership
should bring in more revenue for Facebook, considering that Zynga is a cash
cow for virtual goods. According to a source, Zynga was able to win some
concessions, the company walked away pleased with the deal.

See the release below:

*Facebook and Zynga announced today that they have entered into a five-year
strategic relationship that increases their shared commitment to social
gaming on Facebook and expands use of Facebook Credits in Zynga’s games. The
agreement provides a solid foundation for both companies to continue to work
together to provide millions of people with a compelling user experience for
social 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,” said Mark Pincus,
founder and chief executive officer at Zynga. “We are excited about
Facebook’s long-term commitment to social gaming and Zynga, and look forward
to working with them and other platform providers to bring the best social
gaming experience to users worldwide.”*

*“We are pleased to enter into a new agreement with Zynga to enhance the
experience for Facebook users who play Zynga games,” said Sheryl Sandberg,
chief operating officer at Facebook. “We look forward to continuing our work
with Zynga and all of our developers to increase the opportunities on our
platform.”*

*Zynga is currently testing Facebook Credits in select games and will expand
to more titles over the coming months. Terms of the agreement between
Facebook and Zynga were not disclosed.*

Read more:
http://techcrunch.com/2010/05/18/facebook-and-zynga-enter-into-five-year-partnership-expand-use-of-facebook-credits/#ixzz0oKtmL5dY
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