King Overtakes Zynga to Become Number One in Facebook Gaming

King.com is now number one when it comes to Facebook games. The company has overtaken Zynga for top honors on the social network, with three of its games making Facebook's top 10 in January.

In the #1 slot is Candy Crush Saga. A Bejeweled-style game that has players match three or more like pieces of candy together to remove them from the board.

King initially launched the game on Facebook in April of 2012, following that launch with a mobile version of the game in November. Still relatively new to Facebook, King's first Facebook game, Bubble Witch Saga, launched on the site just 18 months ago.

According to AppData Candy Crush Saga has more than 9.7 million daily players, beating out Zynga's FarmVille 2 with 8.8 million and Texas HoldEm Poker at 7.1 million.

On the mobile side, App Annie has the game listed as one of the top five grossing iPhone and iPad apps in 10 markets. King's CMO Alex Dale tells Mashable that mobile is what helped project the game to the top of the charts.

"People want to play a game on whatever device they want to whenever they want to," says Dale.

Candy Crush Saga is currently played more than 55 million times per day on Android and iOS devices.

Gameplay in Candy Crush Saga is synchronized across devices. So, if you make it to level 29 on your Galaxy S III on the train home from work, then you can start on level 30 when you crack open your laptop at home. Virtual goods purchases can also be used across all platforms, so if you make an in-app purchase on your iPad, that items will also be available when you're playing on Facebook.

With all its games, King launches titles first on its own website as a single-level timed arcade game. When a title is successful, it turns the title into a "Saga," adding more levels and bringing the game to Facebook, and later mobile.

The company's two other Facebook games, Bubble Witch Saga and Pet Rescue Saga, are also currently in the top 10 games on the social network.

What do you think about King taking the number one spot in Facebook gaming away from Zynga? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.