4 ms·

Sounds like Zynga got a discount on Facebook credits in return for staying committed to the FB platform. Of course, I could be horribly wrong

gabrielroth 16y ago
Seems more likely that any discounts would go the other way. Facebook provides Zynga with a massive installed and networked user base. What does Zynga offer Facebook that couldn't be replaced? If I were Zynga, my biggest fear would be that Facebook would decide to compete with me. So I'm guessing this agreement prevents that from happening, at least for five years, and in return Facebook gets a bigger chunk of Zynga's revenue stream. Disclaimer: I don't pay a ton of attention to this stuff, so let me know if I'm off base.
- pchristensen 16y ago
  Much of recent FB growth, especially international, has been driven by gaming. FB has users, but Zynga has over 200M players. FB couldn't compete with Zynga in games without giving shady preferential platform features to their own games - even the other big, successful game companies aren't competing with Zynga.
  - pxlpshr 16y ago
    Yep, I think people severely underestimate how much gaming is a contributor to technology adoption. Mac OSX could have gained a lot more market share had Steve not been so stubborn. Case in point, iPhone app popularity is heavily skewed toward games.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- fierarul 16y ago
  My wife created her Facebook account to play some Zynga game a colleague was playing. Later on I had to make a Facebook account in order to be a neighbor to this Zynga game. At least 3 other people in our circle use Facebook only for and due to Zynga. The social issue becomes just a side issue.
Bossman 16y ago
Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I remember hearing all those rumors about Zynga being really unhappy with Facebook and how they were taking their games to their own website and leaving Facebook behind in the future. It's amazing how quickly things can change.

gabrielroth 16y ago

Seems more likely that any discounts would go the other way. Facebook provides Zynga with a massive installed and networked user base. What does Zynga offer Facebook that couldn't be replaced? If I were Zynga, my biggest fear would be that Facebook would decide to compete with me. So I'm guessing this agreement prevents that from happening, at least for five years, and in return Facebook gets a bigger chunk of Zynga's revenue stream. Disclaimer: I don't pay a ton of attention to this stuff, so let me know if I'm off base.

pchristensen 16y ago
Much of recent FB growth, especially international, has been driven by gaming. FB has users, but Zynga has over 200M players. FB couldn't compete with Zynga in games without giving shady preferential platform features to their own games - even the other big, successful game companies aren't competing with Zynga.
- pxlpshr 16y ago
  Yep, I think people severely underestimate how much gaming is a contributor to technology adoption. Mac OSX could have gained a lot more market share had Steve not been so stubborn. Case in point, iPhone app popularity is heavily skewed toward games.
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
fierarul 16y ago
My wife created her Facebook account to play some Zynga game a colleague was playing. Later on I had to make a Facebook account in order to be a neighbor to this Zynga game. At least 3 other people in our circle use Facebook only for and due to Zynga. The social issue becomes just a side issue.

Bossman 16y ago

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I remember hearing all those rumors about Zynga being really unhappy with Facebook and how they were taking their games to their own website and leaving Facebook behind in the future. It's amazing how quickly things can change.