Farmville was one of the most successful ‘casual' games of all time and the company behind it, Zynga are focusing on the follow up – the aptly titled ‘Farmville 2'.
The San Francisco based company released the new game this week and it is set to deliver a more ‘graphically rich, immersive experience' than the original.
Tim LeTourneau spoke to SFGate and said “FarmVille 2′ is not so much a sequel as it is a reimagining of the digital farming experience, We really wanted to create an experience that could bring back players who have stopped playing ‘FarmVille.”
The story behind Farmville is simple. The gamer is returning to their old family farm in an effort to restore it to the glory days. SFGate say that this could also “serve as a larger metaphor for Zynga itself.”
Farmville still had an average of 18.2 million people playing it every month, but it has dropped from the 83 million monthly peak it enjoyed some time ago.
Zynga need Farmville 2 to rock the sales world as their stock price has dropped to less than $3 per share, losing more than 70 percent value after a December IPO.
Farmville 2 uses Flash 11 technology to create better graphics and even the ‘wheat waves in the wind'. SFGate add “Farming tasks are more interconnected than in the original game – precious water from wells makes seeds grow into crops, which feed the chickens and cows that produce the ingredients for the food that is cooked or sold, not to mention the fertilizer used to help more seeds grow.
Game tasks like harvesting are easier, and decorations do more than just take up space. A rocking chair will rock and wind chimes will chime.”
The company aren't planning to abandon the first game however, and they say they will continue to support it. Farmville 2 will be released on mobile devices some time in the future.
Zynga are currently being sued by Electronic Arts, who claim their game ‘The Ville' is a copy of EA's ‘SimCity Social'.
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