EA announced Facebook game closures, a sign of things to come?

EA and Maxis have spoken up about the impending closure of three games featured on social network Facebook: Sims Social, Simcity Social and Pet Society. All of these games will no longer be available as of 14th June this year.

But should this really surprise anyone? Free to play games that feature limited gameplay that can only be extended by buying something or sharing it with a friend is a current fad that can't last forever  The very nature of the games limits people's play time and they quickly move on to something else. Candy Crush might be the latest craze, but give it a week and it'll be something else entirely.

If anyone you know is playing this, please introduce them to Bejewelled. They don't have to buy “lives” to play that. 

One of the big reasons for this is that the “games” aren't designed with gameplay depth in-mind, they're designed to appeal to the widest popular audience, provide little in the way of a learning curve and to hook you in so you spend money to keep playing. The level up mechanics are more evident than ever in these games, that reward not with exciting gameplay but with bigger numbers and new pretty aesthetics. But these become tiresome fast so a new fix is necessary.

Zynga's demise is a perfect example of this, taking games from others and developing the same time sink + micro-transactions titles.

KitGuru Says: Mark my words, this sort of “gaming” has a short shelf life. The audience for this sort of gameplay will dwindle over time as those that aren't really into playing games will peter off and look to other forms of entertainment, while those that actually want gameplay will gravitate towards real games to satisfy their urge. 

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