Google has reportedly secretly invested $100- $200 million in social gaming firm Zynga, according to a report by Techcrunch. We have confirmed tonight that the details of the deal are correct, through a source familiar with the matter.
The investment is on top of other deals that have brought Zynga almost $500 million in capital in the past year. The deal reportedly closed a month ago and is part of a strategic partnership still being negotiated. Google itself made the investment, not Google Ventures, and Zynga could be part of Google Games, a new platform launching later this year.
Google Games will be part of a larger social network that Google is launching to compete with Facebook, and it will bring in users through all of Google’s different connections to users, such as Gmail. Hence, Google Games could become a very serious contender in the social game space in a short period of time, our source tells us.
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