Google's reported investment in Zynga may only have have been the first step in a larger, calculated move for the company into social gaming. Their social networking site Orkut got left in the shadows when Facebook rose to power, and though they probably don't want to create a new Facebook clone, they do seem to want a piece of the social network king's pie.
Anonymous sources familiar with Google's current dealings said that Playdom Inc., Electronic Arts Inc.'s Playfish and Zynga Game Network Inc. have all been talking about potential ways to get their games into Google's new mystery service, according to a story in The Wall Street Journal.
Google chief executive Eric Schmidt would not confirm the new platform, which could be called "Google Me," but he did state that "the world doesn't need a copy of the same thing" in reference to Facebook.
Whatever Google has on its gaming to-do list, it will also be interesting to see where it falls amid Xbox Live, the PlayStation Network and Steam. Gamers already have a jaw-dropping number of logins and networks to worry about, as do non-gamers and extremely casual gamers like the most dedicated FarmVille users on my Facebook friends list. Google has a much wider array of apps and wings in its empire that Microsoft or Sony right now, however, so their strategy for connecting their dots to games will be a delicate but potentially landscape-altering action.
What would you like to see Google do for social gaming? Do you think Zynga and other publishers need spaces outside of Facebook? Share your reactions in the comment section below.