The Google+ social network has a lot of ground to make up when it comes to catching up to that behemoth Facebook — and nowhere is that as apparent as in the games department.
But Google+ just scored a big victory in its quest to make its Google+ Games section a serious playtime destination. That is, Zynga has just launched its most popular Facebook game, "CityVille," on Google+.
"CityVille" — which Zynga rolled out in December — is currently the No. 1 application on Facebook, boasting more than 72 million monthly active users, according to stat-tracking service AppData. The game challenges players to work with their friends as they build, grow and manage a virtual city of their own design.
"CityVille" is the second title that Zynga — the king of social gaming — has moved to Google+. When Google+ Games first arrived in August, "Zynga Poker" was one of the 11 games that launched with it.
Despite the intense competition between Facebook and Google+, it's not exactly a surprise to see Zynga moving its games from one network to the other. Although there was some question as to whether Zynga had an agreement to confine "CityVille" exclusively to Facebook in North America, Google has reportedly invested more than $100 million in Zynga. And Zynga — which has had something of an up-and-down relationship with Facebook — must be thrilled to have a more diverse list of locations to publish its its games.
But for its part, Zynga is (at least publicly) playing the diplomat.
"Ultimately, we want to make our games accessible to everyone, everywhere — no matter where they play or what platform they play on," the company said in a press release about the move to Google+.
Of course, even with "CityVille" on the roster, Google+ Games — which finally opened its doors to the public last week — still has a whole lot of catching-up to do. As of right now, there are only 18 total titles available in Google+ Games.
For more game news, check out:
- Zynga reveals 'most immersive' game: 'Mafia Wars 2'
- 'Shadowgun' aims to be the iPhone's 'Gears of War'
- 'Star Wars: The Old Republic' launches Dec. 20
Winda Benedetti writes about games for msnbc.com. You can follow her tweets about games and other things here on Twitter or join her in the stream here on Google+. And be sure to check out the In-Game Facebook page here.
