Google invests in Farmville, Mafia Wars creator Zynga

TechCrunch is reporting that multiple sources have told them that Google has invested between $100 and $200 million of its own funds (meaning, not VC division Google Ventures) in Zynga. Those who haven't been enmeshed in the social gaming phenomenon that is Mafia Wars or Farmville may not have heard of them, but you others probably have.

That investment, the sources said, was in preparation for a new Google Games service to launch later this year. As Google wants to be all things Web for all people, it's an obvious move to delve into social gaming.

The best clue supplied to the Google Games service is perhaps this job listing. It's for a Product Manager Leader, Games, and is described as follows:

The Product Management Leader, Games will be a flexible, results-oriented, and experienced senior leader who will be responsible for developing Google's games commerce product strategy and partnering to build and manage the business with a cross-functional team. You will have visionary product insight, combined with experience in the online content business, significant technical expertise and extensive leadership and business skills. The Product Management Leader, Games combines a great instinct for developing compelling products with a strong focus on users and technical aptitude to work with a world class engineering team and the business sense to drive product goals and strategies.

It would also be an interesting adjunct to the rumored "Google Me" Facebook rival that seems to be taking shape. Might we see Farmville disappear from Facebook (probably not), or at least see new Zynga games head over to Google Me exclusively (maybe)?

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