Zynga has launched a social network aimed at gamers, dubbed Zynga With Friends, as the firm looks to branch out from its relationship with Facebook.
The new site will pair gamers with opponents and make features like player profiles, activity streams and chats available for all users, regardless of whether they play the games on mobile devices or desktop computers.
Speaking at the press launch in San Francisco, Manuel Bronstein, a senior Zynga executive, said: “Zynga With Friends is one network, one unified experience, and one social lobby that will, for the first time, connect all of our players, no matter where they’re playing. The new social features and services are designed for the sole purpose of bringing more people to play together.”
The company will provide programming tools to help third-party developers publish online and mobile games based on its own software, to foster an ecosystem that will expand its titles beyond mainstays such as FarmVille and Zynga Poker.
The company also announced FarmVille 2, a sequel to its mega-hit resource-management title, and Matching With Friends, an addition to a suite of smartphone games that includes the popular Words With Friends.
The company also announced new titles, including ChefVille, a kitchen-management game, and The Ville, a game resembling The Sims that allows users to build homes and dress their avatars to interact and pursue romantic relationships with other users.
