Zynga, Facebook Sign Mutual Nonaggression Pact, UN Observers Deploy To Farmville

Zynga and Facebook step back from the brink of nuclear war (not my words!)

Defusing a tense equivalent of a nuclear standoff in social games, Facebook and Zynga announced today that they have entered into a five-year strategic relationship that ensures mutual support for social gaming on the world’s largest social network.

Under the agreement, Zynga will expand its use of Facebook’s virtual currency known as Facebook Credits. The companies were fighting about that because Facebook wants to make the currency a universal way to pay for virtual goods in apps across Facebook — and because Facebook wants a 30 percent cut of every transaction made with Facebook Credits.

The not-terribly-well-kept secret was that Zynga was preparing to launch a Facebook competitor of their own, Zynga Live, in response to Facebook’s attempt to graft themselves onto Facebook gaming’s monetary stream and Facebook’s ever-escalating privacy violations in the name of progress.

But now everyone loves each other! Hearts and flowers for everyone! (Click Hide to remove hearts and flowers from your feed.)