Zynga is in talks to partner with other portals in a bid to wean itself off the Facebook teat.
The company is the largest game developer on Facebook and raised $1 billion last year in an initial public offering of its stock. But investor enthusiasm has been lackluster since then, in large part because the company, which credits 90% of its sales to Facebook, is seen as being too dependent on social networking giant. Facebook takes a 30% cut of virtual wares sold in Zynga games.
Citing unnamed sources, Bloomberg News says Zynga is now set to launch a publishing program in March that will let other game developers advertise their games on a separate Web portal. Zynga would keep a percentage of sales for games sold through its site.
The new site also allows Zynga to hedge some of the risk and expense it has taken on to develop new, best-selling games. The model of marketing games made by outside developers is similar to the model used by many console game makers, like Electronic Arts.
The company announced “Project Z” at a company event in October, according to Bloomberg. At the time, Chief Executive said the strategy was aimed at decreasing reliance on Facebook and building “a direct relationship with consumers whether they are on the Web or mobile.”
