Online social gaming has been a source of enjoyment for millions of people around the world since 1969 — yes, 1969! — when the PLATO system pioneered multiplayer gaming in what became the world’s first online community.

At Yahoo!, we’ve been helping you get your game on with online board games, video games, card games, and more on Yahoo! Games, as well as lots of other fun stuff like fantasy sports competitions — and we just couldn’t just stop there…

Today, we’re announcing a partnership with Zynga the developer of hit social games such as Farmville, Mafia Wars, and Fishville. In the coming months, you’ll be able to play your favorite Zynga games in multiple places across Yahoo! like the homepage, Games, My Yahoo!,  Messenger, and many others sites, using your Yahoo! ID.

So get ready for some exciting and engaging new titles coming to Yahoo! that you can easily play with your friends, family, and fellow gamers and share with your networks across Yahoo!, Facebook, Twitter, and Zynga!

For our developer friends,  this means Zynga will be deeply integrating its apps onto the Yahoo! Application Platform (YAP), Yahoo!’s OpenSocial container, helping to optimize Yahoo!’s distribution channels in ways that other developers can also take advantage of. There will be a set of new open notification channels and other benefits for developers coming to YAP soon!

In the coming months, you will be able to come on over and get your game on with Yahoo! and Zynga!

Cody Simms, senior director, Yahoo! Social Platforms and Yahoo! Developer Network (YDN)