Zynga is testing out Bitcoin payments on seven of its games

In response to Bitcoin’s rise in popularity around the world, Zynga, with help from BitPay, is testing expanded payment options for players to make in-game purchases using Bitcoin. The Bitcoin test is only available to Zynga.com players playing FarmVille 2, CastleVille, ChefVille, CoasterVille, Hidden Chronicles, Hidden Shadows and CityVille.

Zynga hasn’t had much to celebrate lately — the social gaming company suffered a huge drop in users last year and it hasn’t had a hit title in some time. But now it’s taking a new tack, turning to the Bitcoin community. In a post on Reddit’s Bitcoin subreddit last night, the Zynga team said it is currently “testing expanded payment options for players to make in-game purchases using Bitcoin,” specifically through the payment provider Bitpay. Currently, only seven Zynga games support Bitcoin payments, most of them titles in Zynga’s derivative “ville” series:  CastleVille, ChefVille, CoasterVille, CityVille, FarmVille 2, Hidden Chronicles and Hidden Shadows.