MUMBAI: Social games provider Zynga has opened its first international office in India. Based out of Bangalore, this will be the company’s first office outside the United States.

The India operation will focus on game and large-scale infrastructure development to support Zynga’s games played by millions of people every day.

Online gaming in India is rapidly expanding. Forty-one percent of active Internet users played online games in 2008, up 89 percent from the previous year, according to the Internet & Mobile Association of India. With more than 81 million Internet users, India is projected to become the third largest online market behind China and the U.S. by 2013. Zynga hopes exposure of its social games such as FarmVille, Mafia Wars, Café World, and FishVille, will grow among Indian players with the presence of a local office.

"Social gaming combines the best of web technical talent with game storytelling. India offers some of the world’s most sophisticated and rich technical talent bases and we are thrilled to have a local presence," said Zynga CEO Mark Pincus.

The new operation will add to Zynga’s current game studios in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Baltimore. Zynga India is looking to recruit computer scientists and engineers who are experienced in building scalable infrastructure.