Internet search leader Google Inc is bringing a little more gamesmanship to its duel with Facebook. Web surfers will now be able to play games with their friends and family on Google's blossoming social networking service.
Facebook's top games are provided by Zynga Inc., a 4-year-old company hoping to sell its stock in an initial public offering this fall. Google is one of Zynga's investors, according to IPO documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The papers don't specify the size Google's stake in Zynga, which is based in San Francisco.
The investment evidently wasn't enough to buy Google access to Zynga's best-known games. The initial games on Plus include a poker game made by Zynga. Plus also will feature the " Angry Birds" game that so far has been played mostly on phones. The gaming option will gradually start appearing within the accounts of Plus' users.
But people who want to play other Zynga titles such as FarmVille, CityVille and Empires & Allies will still have go to Facebook.
Zynga and Facebook are already financially wedded to each other. Zynga gets most of its revenue from Facebook, which requires games on its site to use its payment system to sell the various items that can be used to playing more fun. Facebook keeps 30 percent of the revenue from Zynga's games.
| Google's expansion into games had been expected since the company unveiled its "Plus" networking service in late June. The service is being groomed to be an alternative to Facebook's popular hangout. By adding games to Plus, Google hopes to give its fledging network's more than 25 million users a reason to come to the service more frequently and stay longer once they're there. |
The investment evidently wasn't enough to buy Google access to Zynga's best-known games. The initial games on Plus include a poker game made by Zynga. Plus also will feature the " Angry Birds" game that so far has been played mostly on phones. The gaming option will gradually start appearing within the accounts of Plus' users.
But people who want to play other Zynga titles such as FarmVille, CityVille and Empires & Allies will still have go to Facebook.
Zynga and Facebook are already financially wedded to each other. Zynga gets most of its revenue from Facebook, which requires games on its site to use its payment system to sell the various items that can be used to playing more fun. Facebook keeps 30 percent of the revenue from Zynga's games.