In 2010, Zynga acquired Newtoy, a company that focused on building high-quality entertainment experiences for mobile platforms and responsible for the Games With Friends franchise.  The company was incorporated into Zynga and naturally the beginnings of platform were born.  It gave birth to games such as Hanging With Friends and Words With Friends on Facebook and is currently brewing up more titles.

This week Zynga launched Zynga With Friends as a social networking platform, moving beyond the status of a game developer.  Zynga has been struggling since going public as stocks continue to decline.  The launch of the social platform intends to spark new interest in the company, pairing gamers with opponents, making features like player profiles, an activity stream and chat available for all users, regardless of whether they play Zynga games on mobile devices or on desktop computers.

Zynga with Friends is “one network, one unified experience, and one social lobby that will for the first time connect all of our players, no matter where they’re playing,” Manuel Bronstein, a senior Zynga executive, told reporters at a press event in the company’s headquarters in San Francisco.

“The new social features and services are designed for the sole purpose of bringing more people to play together,” Bronstein said.

Zynga to divorce Facebook?

This announcement fueled speculation that Zynga’s planning to cut their connection with Facebook, the social networking giant that hosted their first ever game – Texas Hold’em Poker, now known as Zynga Poker, in 2007.

Facebook and Zynga have a mutual relationship that’s worked out pretty well in early years.  Facebook earned a lot of money via Zynga players, and Zynga benefited from Facebook’s massive community of players.  It was a new era of gaming with deep social ties, but had trouble making the jump to mobile.

If Zynga chooses to emancipate itself from Facebook, it could cost them a lot, especially with the fact that their stocks continue to fall as investors’ interest in the company continue to decline.  Stocks fell 5% after the announcement – a clear indication that investors were not impressed with their take on social networking.

But Zynga’s Director of Product Reed Shaffner addressed the rumors stating that their move doesn’t mean that they would abandon their partnership with Facebook; they’re just expanding to give gamers the best service.

“We’ve had a longstanding agreement with Facebook that we would do these kinds of things,” said Reed Shaffner, Zynga’s director of product. “In no way are we trying to use that to say you have to play on this platform.”

“The idea is that we’ll help you find the best gaming friends anywhere you play,” he added.

It’s a deal that leaves them limited and vulnerable in more ways than one.  In a slightly contradictory remark, Zynga CEO Mark Pincus said “it’s not about diversifying,. It’s about taking the path to get our games in front of the largest possible audience and then deepen the value.”