Giants of the casual gaming space Zynga and Rovio have launched branded versions of their biggest games. Rovio has partnered with Wonderful Pistachios to launch The Hunt for the Golden Pistachio while Zynga has announced a new expansion for FarmVille that is sponsored by Discover Financial Services.
"Social games bring people together into virtual communities,” said Mike Boush, vice president of e-business at Discover. "They're captivating increasingly larger online audiences that include many of our Discover cardmembers. Partnering with Zynga to develop a unique in-game experience helps us connect and engage with players and put more fun in time spent online."
The Winter Wonderland expansion for FarmVille will come out December 5 and will have players helping an orange Yeti to use his Discover bank card for his Christmas shopping. Players will receive special rewards and farm items from Discover when they visit the new expansion.
"We’re excited to give consumers the snacks they crave with pistachios and feed the frenzy for new Angry Birds content with the launch of this game,” said Wonderful Pistachios senior director of marketing Marc Seguin.
Rovio will launch The Hunt for the Golden Pistachio, the first fully branded version of Angry Birds. There will also be Wonderful Pistachios ads being shown that feature the characters from Angry Birds as part of the Get Crackin' campaign.
[thanks Gamasutra]
