Today in Social
Zynga released an expanded version of its pre-IPO financial document, with a lot more detail on its Facebook relationship. Some interpret the new information as showing the leader in social games being far too dependent on Facebook. Facebook gets 5-year exclusivity over games that use its platform – including Farmville – and some control over where else Zynga might distribute them. But Facebook is also sharing an undisclosed portion of the revenues generated by ads shown near Zynga games, and guaranteeing certain traffic targets. Does that mean Zynga competitors like Electronic Arts and Playdom get that kind of treatment? The document mentions a Zynga platform built on top of Facebook, but details are missing. I’d written earlier that Zynga could build its own distribution and affiliate network for third-party games – it’s conceivable this could be it. Colin Gibbs writes about how Zynga could conquer mobile. Will Facebook play a role there?