In a recent interview, Zynga CEO Mark Pincus suggested the company is working on back-end technology that would allow them to transfer save-states between multiple gaming platforms. Microsoft’s Xbox was mentioned specifically, which has led to speculation that Zynga integration with Xbox Live may soon be upon us. On one hand, it seems like this kind of expansion is a no-brainer. On the other, though, this concept doesn’t seem very natural or necessary.
For starters, the announcement seems to contradict the sound knowledge that Zynga developer Brian Reynolds presented last year. He said he believed the Xbox demographic was “too small” for Zynga’s prominent Facebook and mobile reach. At just 30 million subscribers to Xbox Live, it’s hard to conceive that much of the hardcore gamer demographic would feel the urge to play casual social games.
Even if a hardcore gamer did want to dabble in a lighter experience, couldn’t they just play it on their computer or mobile device? Despite the fact that in the interview Pincus suggests games could be “customized for the Xbox controller,” few of Zynga’s major properties seems like they would carry over well. A majority of their biggest games rely on point-and-click functionality best suited for a mouse or a touch screen. Control is the main reason the real-time strategy genre will never blossom in the console market; it seems only natural that point-and-click social games would suffer under a controller as well.