Just a couple of weeks ago, it looked like Zynga was going to pack up its box of casual games like Mafia Wars, Farmville, and Cafe World and leave Facebook after some heated negotiations between the two companies. Now the two have announced a five year deal to continue that will keep Zynga's social games on Facebook and expand the use of Facebook Credits.
Terms of the agreement have not been announced but Facebook Credits have already been spotted in a few of Zynga's games and the following announcement was made via press release.
"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," 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."
The main friction point between Zynga and Facebook was the use of Facebook Points that allows casual gamers to purchase in-game items across all games on Facebook. Zynga was previously unhappy with Facebook taking a 30% cut of the money used to purchase Facebook Points but that appears to have been resolved with Facebook also announcing that they would use the money gained to upgrade their infrastructure to better support gaming.
Despite their differences, the two companies have quickly formed a symbiotic relationship with Zynga needing Facebook's legion of users and Facebook needing Zynga's extremely popular social games to give users a reason to keep coming back. Neither would likely be as well off apart as they would be together.
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