Zynga’s Changing Facebook Relationship May Not Be Such a Bad Thing

By Steven Russolillo

Becoming less reliant on Facebook may ultimately not be such a bad thing for Zynga.

Zynga shares are sliding today in the wake of  last night’s disclosure that the social gaming company and Facebook are changing the rules of their relationship. Zynga says it will now be able to host its Web games outside of Facebook’s platform, suggesting less of a reliance on Facebook.

At the onset, that doesn’t sound like such a good development. Shares are down sharply, mainly since the new arrangement leaves the potential for Facebook to produce its own games and become a direct competitor to Zynga.

But analysts are taking the glass-half-full approach about the future prospects for both companies.

Read the full story on The WSJ’s MarketBeat blog.

Janice Renney Jacqueline McKenzie