Zynga, makers of FarmVille and CityVille, leave Facebook

The US company Zynga, who created the on-line games FarmVille and CityVille, are moving away from Facebook and are setting up their own social gaming service.

The San Francisco-based company Zynga, who created the popular Facebook social games FarmVille, CastleVille and CityVille, have announced that they are parting company with Facebook and will be establishing their own gaming service. The move follows the recent stock market flotation of Zynga in December 2011. The company plans to make its games available to any Internet user who wishes to purchase one. At present, the games can only be accessed through social networks like Facebook, Google+ and Myspace. The games are very popular with over 200 million users. Signal News describes the decision as "The move is analogous to a teenager moving out of the house for the first time." The reason for the move away from the established social network sites has not been declared although profit is one likely reason, the Maltastar speculates. Currently Facebook takes a 30% cut from each sale (games like FarmVille work by the users purchasing virtual items). The BBC quotes Keza MacDonald, of IGN.com, who notes with interest the move away from Fcebook: "If Facebook game powerhouses like Zynga launch their own platforms rather than hosting games exclusively on Facebook itself, it undermines Facebook's credibility as a gaming platform, which could shift the emphasis on social gaming. The money in social gaming could shift further towards mobile platforms." Technology watchers will now be seeing if Zynga is big enough to survive without Facebook.