Following on from its announcement earlier in the year that it planned to end the lives of 13 of its games, Zynga has begun that process, closing down 11 of them, including: Petville, Mafia Wars 2, Vampire Wars, ForestVille and Fishville among others.
Don't worry though, Zynga has recommendations for the few that still played these games. “In place of ‘PetVille,' we encourage you to play other Zynga games like ‘Castleville,' ‘Chefville,' ‘Farmville 2,' ‘Mafia Wars' and ‘Yoville,'” the social gaming firm said on the Petville page. Players of the game have also been offered a bonus pack of virtual goods for the other games.
Zynga has suffered a lot in the past year, with dwindling stock prices, player numbers and ultimately staff counts too, as many developers were let go in 2012. While the now-closed Petville had several million ‘likes', its player count had dwindled to just 60,000 active per day, according to Reuters.
Zynga's plans for the future include increased exposure in the mobile gaming scene and a push for more online gambling.
KitGuru Says: While social games are often seen as a haven for very, very casual players, how many of you guys dip your toe into a Farmville or similar from time to time?