Zynga steps up to the plate and becomes a publisher

The mutually beneficial relationship between Facebook and Zynga could soon become more complicated, with the Farmville creator ready to launch an eye-catching games portal that exists outside of the social network.

Zynga.com, which will launch in beta this month, will host a range of popular Zynga games as well as new content provided by external development studios.

The site will be available across the globe in fifteen different languages.

Social game developers will have the chance to publish their work through Zynga.com, effectively turning the San Franciscan games company into a third-party publisher.

Partners will tap into the technology and game development services that Zynga has built specifically for building and scaling social games.”

Customers can log into Zynga.com with their Facebook account and, at least for now, will need to use Facebook Credits to purchase virtual items.We will determine what happens as we go,” said Manuel Bronstein, general manager at Zynga Direct.

For lots more detail on this story, head over to our sister site Develop.