Zynga is making moves today. The social game maker announced that it is launching a beta of its own game portal in a few days, bringing its games outside of Facebook — a company that receives 12% of its revenue from Zynga alone. But the company is not straying far from its largest current platform: Zynga CTO Cadir Lee tells CNET that its new platform will be "fully Facebook-connected," meaning that players will still require a Facebook ID to access it. The company will also be opening up its platform to third parties, and has partnered with developers Row Sham Bow and MobScience which will be releasing games on Zynga in the future.

The beta will include CastleVille, Zynga Poker, Hidden Chronicles, and CityVille, and the platform will have its own social network features that are separate from Facebook. But Zynga's certainly been inspired by its long-time partner: its platform will offer player profiles, social streams, live chat, and social play when it initially launches. While the company is still highly intertwined with Facebook, it's clear that it regards its new platform as a serious move: Zynga COO John Schappert tells Venturebeat that "to date we've been a web / game company delivering content to our players... and now we're transforming into a gaming and platform company."