Google is forging ahead with its push into video games, and has recruited one of the largest casual developers to help the effort. TechCrunch reports that the search and advertising giant has invested between $100 and $200 million in Zynga, the developer behind the wildly popular Facebook game Farmville. The deal closed a month ago, and is said to be part of a strategic partnership between the two companies.
Interestingly, Google itself (not Google Ventures) made the investment. Zynga looks to be the backbone of Google Games, which will probably launch later this year. TechCrunch speculates that Google is looking to create a social graph of players, and to push Google Checkout as the payment method. Google tends to be nothing if not eager to combine its various business types and to continue mapping the preferences of its customer bases.
Google’s push into the gaming space isn’t surprising. We’ve heard rumblings of it in the last year, and it was all but confirmed a few months ago when the company posted a job listing for a Games Project Manager. Even so, this investment shows a large cash commitment to the project, as well as the direction Google may be leaning for its games department. They seem to be aiming directly for the casual market, which could make rivalry with Facebook a great spectacle to watch.
