Source: http://www.sfgate.com
Social network games firm Zynga is trying to grow its audience with a deal that brings its hit Facebook game FarmVille to Microsoft's casual game portal, MSN Games.
In just a few short months, FarmVille has harvested an audience of more than 75 million Facebook members who play the online farm simulation game each month.
But the San Francisco company said the new partnership is the first step in putting Zynga's games in front of 500 million users of MSN Games and Windows Live Messenger. Other Zynga titles will become available in coming months.
"Social gaming has gone mainstream," Zynga senior vice president Mike Verdu said in a press release. "Bringing FarmVille to a major site like MSN Games is a great way to expand the reach of social games and is a logical next step in how we deliver them to consumers."
Although Zynga develops games for other social networks, including MySpace, Friendster and Bebo, FarmVille is exclusive to Facebook. And even with the MSN Games partnership, FarmVille remains a Facebook-hosted game and requires a Facebook membership, said Zynga spokeswoman Lisa Chan.
Zynga recently made the game available on its own standalone Web site, FarmVille.com. But as with MSN Games, FarmVille remains connected through Facebook Connect.
Zynga says it has more than 235 million monthly active players for games like Zynga Poker, Mafia Wars, YoVille and FishVille. Terms of the partnership with MSN Games were not announced.
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