Thanks to a new partnership between Zynga and the convenience-store chain

May 24, 2010 11:57 GMT  ·  By
Just one of the FarmVille-branded items going on sale at 7-Elevens later this year
   Just one of the FarmVille-branded items going on sale at 7-Elevens later this year

Zynga, the social-gaming powerhouse, has been going from strength to strength lately. Things weren’t looking so great for a while, but a long-term partnership with Facebook ensures that its games will continue to be available on the largest social network in the world. With that behind it, it’s time to look at growth again, so the company is partnering with the 7-Eleven chain of convenience stores to sell FarmVille-, Mafia Wars- and YoVille-branded items in the US.

Social gaming has always been about the mainstream audience and these types of promotions are a great way of getting people more involved and maybe lure in others who haven’t played until now.

Partnering with retail chains and doing all manner of cross-promotions is nothing new for gaming companies, but Zynga and social gaming in general was seen as somewhat of a fringe phenomenon. Of course, with hundreds of millions of players and more coming each day, it’s hard not to take social games seriously.

There will be over 30 different items branded with one of Zynga’s games and even special flavors created for the occasion. The promotion is more than skin deep, customers will be able to redeem the special codes on these products for gifts and items in-game.

The campaign will run for six weeks starting with June 1st in the US. The promotion comes after Zynga started selling pre-paid cards, which can be redeemed for in-game credits at 7-Eleven stores and several gaming outlets. The cards sell for $10 or $25 and can be used in any of the three games mentioned above.

It remains to be seen how successful the campaign will be and if it can win Zynga even more players than it already has. By its own account, ten percent of Americans play FarmVille alone. That’s ten percent of all Americans, not just those with Internet connections. And they play a lot of it too, 80 percent of Zynga’s players come back every day to one of the three games.