Late 2016, Gibeau opened Zynga’s Helsinki Studios near mobile giant Supercell, maker of the hit strategy game Clash of Clans and farming simulation Hay Day. It would take the arrival of new leadership in 2016, led by CEO Frank Gibeau, to make the farm franchise come alive for a new generation of players. It wasn’t until 2014 that Zynga launched its mobile game, FarmVille 2: Country Escape, a side quest followed up by FarmVille 2: Tropic Escape two years later. From there the game went viral and became such a huge part of the cultural zeitgeist that at the height of its popularity in 2011, Zynga had over 300 million users and was generating nearly a fifth of Facebook’s revenue.īut in 2012, as mobile became the dominant platform for casual gaming, Zynga struggled to pivot. By the end of its first week, FarmVille had reached one million daily active users, according to Zynga founder Mark Pincus. This drew players back into the game and formed an addictive loop that quickly turned the simple act of tending crops into an obsession for fans, including celebrities and politicians. When it launched in 2009, the strategy simulation game was the first major game on Facebook to ping friends in the News feed. However, the mobile version of the game gives people the option of playing FarmVille without friends for the first time in the franchise, according to Zynga vice president of games Jonathan Knight.įarmVille is essentially what it sounds like, in that players feed livestock, nurture crops, craft goods and virtually tend to other aspects of country life.It’s been 12 years since the animals of Zynga’s FarmVille first grazed the screens of fans worldwide. It also connects with Facebook rival Google+. Since tens of millions of people still play FarmVille with friends at Facebook, the mobile version connects back to the leading social network. The new mobile version of the game was released globally in more than dozen languages.
"FarmVille really put social gaming on the map," Davies said. More than 400 million people around the world have played the game, which has brought in more than a billion dollars in revenue for Zynga. The original FarmVille will mark its fifth anniversary in June.
"Just as the original FarmVille created a global phenomena when it launched, we expect the same from Country Escape," game general manager Jamie Davies told AFP while providing an early glimpse at the title. The San Francisco-based game maker set on its heels by a shift away from desktop computers is out to regain momentum with the mobile-format FarmVille 2: Country Escape for iPhone, iPad and Android devices. Social games pioneer Zynga has released a version of the hit FarmVille tailored for smartphones and tablets in the hope of reaping a bumper crop of players.
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