Remember when we use to believe that Facebook and Zynga would be besties for life? Those days are over. A few months ago Zynga and Facebook renegotiated their contract, a move that allowed other social gaming platforms to play on an even keel with the social gaming giant. This week Zynga removed the Facebook log-in requirement from its Zynga.com homepage.
Facebook and Zynga agreed towards the end of 2012 that Zynga would no longer be required to use Facebook’s monetization platform and Facebook was given permission to create games that directly compete with Zynga.
Moments ago we announced that Facebook now has 250 million monthly gamers and more than 100 games implemented via the Facebook.com portal.
Zynga in the meantime has rolled out a new website redesign that removes the need to sign into Zynga games via Facebook login. According to Zynga general manager Tim Caitlin:
“You had to use your Facebook account to play previously, but this is going to change going forward.”
Users still have the option to use the their Facebook logins but it is no longer a prevalent part of the Zynga website design.
Moving towards a cross-platform setup that allows users to easily connect to Zynga games via smartphones, tablets and desktop devices outside of Facebook is still a gambling for the social gaming giant, on the other hand the company gets to keep more of its profits rather than handing 30 percent of its earnings over to Facebook.
Do you think Zynga is making the right decision in further distancing itself from Facebook?
Wow, this is a huge move. I wonder if it'll gain them any players. It seemed like they had a decent market to start with Facebook.
interesting, wondering if this will improve play on their site, it is ridiculously slow at times!