The original version of FarmVille, which was once the most popular game on Facebook, is officially shutting down. Mark Pincus, chairman of co-founder of California-based game developer Zynga, broke the news on Twitter. “Tomorrow, Zynga shuts down FarmVille on Facebook after 11 years. I wanted to share the story of how we created it and why it has played such an important role in the evolution of gaming,” Pincus said.
After 11 fruitful years, the days of ploughing, planting and harvesting with FarmVille are coming to a close. Thank… https://t.co/5DxvFo9y7m
— Zynga (@zynga) 1609447089000
Zynga’s FarmVille was one of the pioneers in tapping into Facebook’s burgeoning user base when they showcased the video game 11 years ago. Despite the lack of flashy graphics, the game became immensely popular, and Pincus reckons “real innovation” went into making games “accessible to busy adults.”
“It was the first game at scale that leveraged big data, and almost everything inside the game was tested and optimized. FarmVille became a training ground for a generation of entrepreneurs and product managers,” he said.
Tomorrow, Zynga shuts down FarmVille on Facebook after 11 years. I wanted to share the story of how we created it a… https://t.co/BI5Zb92Kr8
— mark pincus (@markpinc) 1609446531000
Zynga was early to realize the potential of farm games, which were slowly gaining popularity in the United States in the last decade decade. In 2009, it acquired MyMiniLife, and directed four engineers to build a farm game.
“The team sat in an alcove by my office. I met w/ them daily and focused on building the next evolution of social farm simulation. We kept it simple: better crop art, math, and remove the stranger-danger marketplace. We also found subtle ways to make it easier to play,” Pincus said.
Facebook, which was then opening its feed to app developers, saw the potential in FarmVille, and Mark Zuckerberg asked Pincus to publish the game on the popular social network “Facebook had just opened the feed to app developers, and Zuck asked me to send him all the content we had, saying FB would filter out what it didn’t want to show. FarmVille became the first major game to leverage the news feed as an extension of the core game,” Pincus added.
FarmVille was launched, shortly thereafter, on June 19, 2009. It became an “immediate viral hit” and managed to garner 1 million daily active users (DAUs) by the end of its first week, Pincus said. FarmVille’s popularity did not wane in the intervening decade. The decision to pull the plug on the game comes on the back of Adobe’s announcement that it will no longer distribute and update its Flash Player for web browsers after December 31, 2020.
“Following an incredible 11 years since its initial launch back in 2009, we are officially announcing the closure of the original FarmVille game on Facebook. As previously stated, Adobe will stop distributing and updating Flash Player for all web browsers, and Facebook will stop supporting Flash games on the platform completely after December 31. FarmVille will, therefore, be directly affected as a result of this,” Zynga said in an announcement.
The Adobe Flash Player might have come to the end of its life cycle, but this does not mean curtains for FarmVille. While the desktop version of the game will no longer run on browsers, those who wish to play Farmville 2: Tropic Escape can still do so on mobile. Zynga is expected to launch Farmville 3 in 2021.
FAQs
The Adobe Flash Player might have come to the end of its life cycle, but this does not mean curtains for FarmVille. While the desktop version of the game will no longer run on browsers, those who wish to play Farmville 2: Tropic Escape can still do so on mobile. Zynga is expected to launch Farmville 3 in 2021.
Why did Zynga shut down FarmVille? ›
As previously stated, Adobe will stop distributing and updating Flash Player for all web browsers, and Facebook will stop supporting Flash games on the platform completely after December 31st, 2020. FarmVille will therefore be directly affected as a result of this,” Zynga said in its announcement.
How to play FarmVille 2 without Flash Player? ›
In order to keep playing FarmVille 2 next year and beyond, it's important that you download and install the FarmVille 2 Launcher+ on your computer. Secure, Seamless & Rewarding! The FV2 Launcher+ is a safe and secure Zynga product that runs FarmVille 2 without the need for Flash Player.
What happened to my original FarmVille? ›
On September 27, 2020, Zynga announced that it would discontinue the first FarmVille on Facebook on December 31, 2020, as Facebook was to stop supporting games running on Flash Player—required by FarmVille—on that day. Following the existing FarmVille 2, FarmVille 3 focuses on mobile devices.
Can I access my old FarmVille? ›
The easiest and safest way to recover an old account is to have it connected to Facebook, a Zynga email address or an Apple ID. This way, your progress is saved in the cloud. When starting a new game, you will see a 'Sign In' button at the beginning of the tutorial.
What Zynga games are discontinued? ›
Zynga on Monday made good on promises to shut down several games — killing PetVille, FishVille, Montopia, Vampire Wars, Indiana Jones Adventure World and more — in an effort to save money and focus resources on more popular games.
Why Zynga failed? ›
The company had overpaid for Draw Something maker OMGPOP, The Ville was a dud, and Zynga had failed to launch new games fast enough, the company said. Its shares crashed. Analysts said CEO Mark Pincus had 9 to 12 months left to turn things around. Layoff rumors ripped through Zynga's offices.
Can you still play Flash games without Adobe Flash? ›
Another option to sample Flash-powered games without a Flash plugin is Ruffle. There are three formats of Ruffle – a standalone, downloadable program, a browser extension or a program powered by a line of HTML code. Ruffle is considered an emulator for small web format (SWF) files.
How to play old games without Flash Player? ›
If you stumble upon an old website with a broken Flash title you'd like to play, you can do so by installing Ruffle on your computer. There are browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox. Just install the extension and any Flash content that you run into on the web, new or old, will automatically open in the emulator.
Can you still download the original FarmVille? ›
The original version of FarmVille, which was once the most popular game on Facebook, is officially shutting down. Mark Pincus, chairman of co-founder of California-based game developer Zynga, broke the news on Twitter.
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FarmVille players will be able to continue making in-app purchases until November 17th, after which its payment system will shut down. You can still play the game until December 31st, after which it will shut down permanently.
Can you still play old Facebook games? ›
It will no longer be possible to launch new Web Games on Facebook starting on Jan 1, 2021. Players can continue to play existing games without any interruption.
Can you still play FarmVille 2? ›
In order to continue playing FarmVille 2 after December 2020, when Adobe Flash is set to expire on all browsers, you must download and install the FarmVille 2 Launcher+. The game itself looks and plays exactly as it does on Facebook, only without the social networking trimmings.
Why did FarmVille fail? ›
Facebook games market started to saturate
Let alone other developers, Zynga itself released a plethora of games on Facebook searching for the next Farmville. Not only did the idea fail, it also affected Farmville's popularity. Farmville now had competitors, and the game slowly started to lose its grip on the top.
