Zynga unveils Project Z, five new games

Zynga lifted the wraps off Project Z, a brand new "social playground" where it'll host games from the company outside of Facebook.

Project Z, otherwise known as Zynga Direct, will host games made by the company, but will still use Facebook Connect for connected multiplayer, with it confirming that players will be able to swap between the two without their games being affected.

There was no release date announced for the service at a press conference hosted by COO John Schappert.

The five games announced from the company also announced at the event was a new Ville title, the medieval-themed CastleVille that will have an MMORPG theme within it.

Four other games unveiled included Zynga Casino, bringing together Zynga Poker and the new Zynga Bingo, Dream Zoo, Hidden Chronicles and Mafia Wars II, which launched yesterday. All of the games will appear on Facebook and Google+.

More details at GI.Biz.