Zynga Says New Website Is Like Steam for Social Games

One of the leading executives of developer Zynga has labeled the new website that the company is promoting as the Steam of social games, a platform which allows gamers to play their favorite titles while also discovering friends and engaging with them.

Rob Dyer, who is a vice president at Zynga, told GamesIndustry International that, “Zynga.com brings people a new way to connect with friends and meet new people who love to play, and it gives our players an easy way to discover new games they might enjoy.”

He added, “We’re thrilled to be working with our partners to bring the first set of third-party games to our network of players on Zynga.com and Facebook, and are excited to help our players discover new games by shining a light on some of the most talented game developers in the industry.”

Dyer acknowledges that, at the moment, Zynga.com has some problems and that players can at times experience glitches, but he also says that the company will continue to improve the infrastructure while also making sure that gamers have more occasions to discover new experiences.

Of course Steam, the digital distribution service from Valve, is so successful on the PC because it also carries third-party titles, something that Zynga is unlikely to do.

Zynga has made a strategic decision earlier during 2012 to start and separate its efforts from the Facebook social platform, inviting players to sign up and play on the new Zynga.com website.

It’s not clear how successful Zynga-made social titles can be if they no longer benefit from the Facebook infrastructure.

The company has also been accused of copyright infringement by publisher Electronic Arts over similarities between The Sims Social and The Ville.

Zynga has also been affected by an exodus of high profile game developers and executives, which has prompted a decline in its share price.