Zynga has just announced their newest project, Zynga Direct, a social media website that allows people to play popular Zynga titles without the use of Facebook.
News just broke at the Zynga Unleashed event held at their headquarters in San Francisco this morning, as the company announced their plans to move sideways from Facebook as their primary means of game distribution. Such a thing is difficult, as Zynga pays a generous amount of royalties to Facebook, so much so that they're essentially owned by the social network. Zynga Direct won't replace the company's reliance on Facebook, says Business Insider, but simply represents another option for people who want to play titles like FarmVille, FrontierVille, and Mafia Wars.
Speaking of which, the company has also announced that Mafia Wars 2 will be heading to Google Plus, which marks the second Zynga title on the competing network since Zynga Poker. It's a rapid turn-around for the franchise, which just launched on Facebook yesterday.
Zynga also announced the start of "Project Z," a service that is essentially Gamertags for Zynga titles. Its service is available through Facebook, where players can collect Zynga-style currency based on game performance and instantly connect with other people in the same games. Its official website is right over here.
[Source: Business Insider]
This article originally appeared on GamePro.com as Zynga Launching Social Network, Announces Mafia Wars 2
