The Sorry State of Social Gaming Keeps Getting Sorrier

Good news to many: the abomination that is social gaming is all but dead as a doornail at this point. What which was once touted as, not just the next big thing in gaming, but the future face of it as a whole, is on the ropes and seemingly unable to see how many fingers the ref is holding up.

The once golden child of social gaming, who just yesterday kept it classy by firing 5% of its employees during Apple's iPad Mini unveil, under the idiotic assumption that no one would notice, has unveiled their latest financials. And as expected, hence the cut backs in the first place, things are not good for Zynga.

They lost a total of $160 million during thus far this year. That number covers the first nine months, from January to September. When all is said and done, i.e. once we hit January of 2013, 2012 might prove to be Zynga's worst year ever.

But the publisher remains confident; they were quick to point that they still control the upper half of the top ten games on Facebook, including FarmVille 2, Zynga Poker, and Words With Friends.

In related news, Facebook's founder, Mark Zuckerberg is also less than pleased with the current state of social gaming. According to Kotaku, during yesterday's earning calls, Zuckerberg stated flat out: "Gaming on Facebook isn't doing as well as I'd like."

The main reason is, you guessed it, Zynga fading fortunes. Last year they were responsible for 62% of Facebook's payments revenue, which also accounted for 12% of Facebook's overall revenue. This year the numbers have dipped 40% and 7% respectively.

Zynga's difficulties are hurting Facebook's bottom line, at a time in which the social network is also struggling. Even though its old news, their IPO flopping big time is still fresh in many people's minds.

It would seem that Zynga and Facebook are both in it together, and it remains to be seen if either party can help turn things around. Facebook is in a far better position, since they have their hands in many jars. Ultimately, it can survive without Zynga.

But the other way around? Many would say no, but not Zynga, who not long ago proposed initiatives outside the once comfy confines of social networks. If they are indeed serious about reinventing itself, that time might be now.