Zynga's chief technology officer sets out its long-term game plan

Zynga's upcoming Farmville 2 is the sequel to the firm's most popular game which once attracted more than 82 million users in one month

The social video game firm Zynga poses a dilemma. On the one hand its titles are some of the most popular on Facebook and app stores.

It says it attracts 182 million unique players every month - all of them potential customers for its virtual goods.

On the other it is a loss-making developer with huge ambitions but a questionable future, in part because its fortunes are so closely tied to Facebook.

These doubts are reflected in its stock, which is currently more than 40% below its flotation price.

To discuss the San Francisco-based company's future the BBC spoke to Cadir Lee, Zynga's chief technology officer:

Zynga always aimed to be social gaming company. What lessons did it learn along the way?

Cadir Lee is responsible for developing Zynga's technology platform

You have bought or opened studios in Bangalore, Beijing, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Dublin and London outside of the US. Is this about making sure you understand local markets or are you just securing talent?

Is much of your focus on China at the moment?

You have developed popular smartphone apps such as Poker By Zynga, and acquired others such as Draw Something and Words With Friends. But some analysts remain concerned that you will find it hard to find the same kind of success on tablets and phones as you have had on PCs via Facebook.

Zynga bought Words With Friends developer Newtoy in 2010

How would you describe your current relationship with Facebook?

Both your firms' shares have had a roller coaster ride. Reuters recently reported the issue was causing "discontent" and "frustration" at Zynga with morale "ebbing along with the stock price" since many of your workers own stakes.

Zynga is headquartered in San Francisco and has offices in Canada, China, Japan and Europe

An ethical question: people can become addicted to games like yours and end up spending a lot of money on virtual goods or continued access. Are you aware of these risks and do you monitor if gamers are spending too much?

Zynga's casino-themed games have helped position it for a potential relaxation of US online gambling laws

But wouldn't it be worth capping what people can spend to protect them?

As far as casino games go, are you pushing for the US to relax its laws over online gaming?

Zynga pays Facebook a 30% cut of all credits sold through the social network

With Farmville 2 one of the notable features is that it offers better graphics than the original game. Going forward do you think you're moving towards a point where you will offer console-quality titles via web browsers or apps?

How about gesture controls - is that something you are looking at now we have the Kinect sensor for PCs?