Zynga launching Words With Friends on Facebook

By Mike Flacy August 1, 2011

Words-With-Friends — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Makers of the extremely popular FarmVille, Zynga is bringing the mobile gaming hit Word With Friends to audiences on the Web. Extremely similar to Hasbro’s Scrabble, Words With Friends is a relaxed version of the word game with built-in chat functions similar to the recently launched Hanging With Friends. The mobile version of the game allows players to sync Facebook accounts to the in-game friend list and players can challenge people on the list to play a quick match. The Web version of Words With Friends allows for cross-platform play as well as trading comments about the game on the Facebook wall.

Players also have the ability to send notifications to other players when waiting on a player to take a turn in the game. Players can be involved in up to 20 games at a time simultaneously as most matches typically take ten to fourteen days to complete. While Words With Friends hasn’t launched on the PC platform yet, it’s rumored to roll out within the next two weeks. It’s also likely that another update to the mobile software of the game will roll out to allows for Facebook notifications. Anyone interested in the game can “Like” the official Words With Friends Facebook page to receive a notification of launch.

It’s possible Zynga will come under the same scrutiny as another company that built and launched Scrabulous on Facebook on 2006. Before FarmVille was launched, Scrabulous was often referred to as the most popular game on Facebook with over 500,000 active players each day. During the height of its popularity on Facebook, the game was generating $25,000 a month in advertising revenue. The popularity caught the attention of Hasbro, the makers of Scrabble. After a lawsuit in 2008, Scrabulous was forced to shut down. The owners of the application and website relaunched under the name Lexulous, but didn’t regain the massively popularity of Scrabulous.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Contributing Editor

By day, I'm the content and social media manager for High-Def Digest, Steve's Digicams and The CheckOut on Ben's Bargains…

Gaming

The Nintendo Switch just got 2 surprise games — and they’re both worth grabbing

A teddy beat sits on an embroidery hoop in Stitch.

If you were unable to catch this week's Nintendo IndieWorld showcase, then you missed a surprisingly loaded show. Lorelei and the Laser Eyes got a May release date, WayForward showed off its Yars' Revenge revival, and Steamworld Heist 2 got an exciting reveal. In the midst of all those headlines, two smaller games were surprise released on the platform: Stitch and Sticky Business. Don't sleep on either of them, as they're both worth a purchase.

Both games are ports of previously released games, but both went a bit under the radar upon their original launch. Sticky Business modestly launched last summer on PC, whereas Stitch has actually been around since 2022 as an Apple Arcade exclusive. The latter even has an Apple Vision Pro version now that can be played in mixed reality. I can't blame anyone for missing either, but their Switch releases offer a good opportunity to catch up with some quiet hidden gems.

Computing

Is this Razer’s Steam Deck killer?

The Razer Kishi Ultra sitting on a table.

Razer has been oddly quiet in the burgeoning world of handheld gaming PCs. When I met up with the company at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) to learn about its new products, I was happy to hear it had an answer to the success of the Steam Deck.

But it was not the type of answer I was expecting.

Gaming

The best iPhone emulators

A collage of the delta emulator.

The market for iPhone games has become so wide and diverse that it can realistically compete with most console and PC offerings. Where we once only got cheap time-wasters, we now have complete experiences that don't feel any less impressive than what the competition offers. In fact, a lot of games made for consoles are appearing on the iPhone now that it is becoming so powerful. However, older games have paradoxically been mostly absent from the app store. That all could be about to change as emulation is now allowed on iPhone, though with some caveats that any retro fan should know about before getting too excited to play all your favorite NES games on your phone. Here's what's up with iPhone emulators, as well as our picks for a few of the best ones you can get right now.
What you need to know about emulation on iPhone
Emulators on iPhone, as well as emulation in general, are in a strange legal gray zone. Previously, the only way to get an emulator on your iPhone was through some workarounds that generally involved jailbreaking your phone, That differs from Android, which has enjoyed native emulators for years. In 2024, Apple updated its App Store guidelines to allow for emulators on its store, but with some important restrictions.

Here's the exact wording: "Apps may offer certain software that is not embedded in the binary, specifically HTML5 mini apps and mini games, streaming games, chatbots, and plug-ins. Additionally, retro game console emulator apps can offer to download games. You are responsible for all such software offered in your app, including ensuring that such software complies with these guidelines and all applicable laws. Software that does not comply with one or more guidelines will lead to the rejection of your app. You must also ensure that the software adheres to the additional rules that follow in 4.7.1 and 4.7.5. These additional rules are important to preserve the experience that App Store customers expect, and to help ensure user safety."