Facebook and Zynga have formed a new deal that removes Zynga’s preferential treatment status while allowing it to more openly sell its own games outside of FB terms. Essentially Zynga is now held to the same exact standards as other social gaming company’s that utilize the Facebook platform.
Under the former agreement Facebook promised not to develop its own games, an agreement that is now void. While Facebook has the option to create its own social gaming platform a spokesperson for the network says the company “[is] not in the business of building games and we have no plans to do so.”
Under its new terms Zynga not not need to use Facebook’s payment methods to collect revenue, and the company is no longer being forced to use Facebook advertisements.
According to a Facebook spokesperson:
“We have streamlined our terms with Zynga so that Zynga.com’s use of Facebook Platform is governed by the same policies as the rest of the ecosystem. We will continue to work with Zynga, just as we do with developers of all sizes.”
The severing of both company’s deep ties should not come as a surprise as Zynga stock has lost more than 40 percent of its value in 2012 thanks to declining gamer numbers. As Zynga continues to lose money it only makes sense that Facebook would look to new sources of gaming revenue with more flexible terms.
