Zynga adds 50 employees from PS3 and Wii game maker Buzz Monkey

Will Zynga start making Farmville for Xbox? Probably not, but the 50 employees it gained through a talent acquisition of video game maker Buzz Monkey are used to working on projects like the Tomb Raider Trilogy for PS3 and Wii, reports TechCrunch.

Buzz Monkey will become Zynga's Eugene, Oregon office. Zynga has worked with Buzz Monkey before on games like Frontierville, so the two companies have a past. Zynga is also used to buying smaller game companies and turning them into satellite offices.

However, Buzz Monkey doesn't make free-to-play, mass-market games like the other companies Zynga has acquired. With the price of the acquisition so low that Zynga didn't even have to complete a SEC filing, the move certainly does't signal a change of direction for the company. But for those of us itching to swing a Wii ax while cutting trees on Frontierville, it could be a reason for hope.

As Zynga expands its gaming library, it may eventually branch out into different types of games. Venture Beat reports that Zynga recently hired Joshua Ortega, a Gears of War 2 writer, as a senior narrative designer, perhaps in an effort to move into more narrative games.

Buzz Monkey was started in 2001 by four former employees of Dynamix, and has previously partnered with Eidos and Activision, reports TechCrunch.

Would you play Farmville on XBox? Or should Zynga stick to online gaming?