Thinking of all my hardworking ancestors toiling away on family farms, trying to provide enough food for their sprawling German- and Irish-Catholic families makes me wonder: What would they think of an immensely popular game about farming where players can risk virtual cows for cash? Zynga, the makers of popular online game FarmVille, is taking the next step in gaming by applying for a license to gamble in Nevada. [More]
Zynga Files For Nevada Gambling License So Players Can Gamble Away The Virtual Farm
By December 6, 2012
Why Did Zynga Ban Me From Their Poker Game?
By October 3, 2012
As Ofer tells it, he just wanted to play a little online poker. He signed up to play Zynga’s version of the game, which may have been his first mistake. The company promptly bans him. He tells Consumerist that he has no idea why they wouldn’t want his awesome self playing their game. None! We’ll take his word on that, because apparently Zynga has no idea why they banned him, either. [More]
EA Sues Zynga Over Facebook Game That Also Has Simulated People Doing Everyday Things
By August 3, 2012
There’s a fight brewing in social media gaming land: Electronic Arts is steamed at Zynga over its new “The Ville” game, which EA claims is a total ripoff of “The Sims Social,” both games that are played on Facebook. EA is suing, claiming The Ville is an “unmistakable” copy of The Sims Social. Both do have characters that are you know, people, who do things like build homes and put fancy virtual stuff in them. [More]
Facebook’s Cash Cow Zynga Blaming Some Of Its Gaming Problems On The Social Network
By July 26, 2012
Is the era of FarmVille domination over? The creator of that popular online social game as well as a slew of others is facing some big problems, after Zynga’s stock opened 40% lower today than yesterday. Its putting some of the blame on the decline on its partner on the farm, Facebook, for changing up the social networking platform. [More]
Zynga-Branded AmEx Prepaid Card Lets You Earn FarmVille Cash In The Real World
By May 22, 2012
This site does not, in general, approve of Zynga’s freemium addiction-based gaming model or fee-laden prepaid debit cards. So we are amused and slightly dismayed to bring you the news that AmEx and Zynga have teamed up to bring a Farmville points rewards card into the world. Fill up your card, spend the money, earn points to buy in-game stuff. How could this product possibly go wrong? [More]
FarmVille, CityVille Are Bigger Than Madden, Halo
By February 4, 2011
Hardcore gamers my scoff at free-to-play Facebook games such as Zynga’s FarmVille and CityVille, but the social games have proven to be more popular and lucrative than most major video game titles, according to estimates from IGN. [More]
Game Developer Says Farmville Is Designed To Be "Negative" And "Draining"
By December 9, 2010
So-called social network games like Farmville and Mafia Wars are intentionally designed to not be fun and cause you anxiety, says a well-respected game developer. [More]
30 Million Farmville Users Get Lives, Stop Playing
By November 24, 2010
After a 15-month reign of inexplicable Facebook domination, Farmville has ceded its crown to Phrases, a quote, image and quiz-posting app. [More]
Target Sells Facebook Gift Cards
By September 2, 2010
This holiday season, give the gift of Mafia Wars addiction with Facebook gift cards from Target. [More]
This Is Your Brain On Farmville
By August 30, 2010
“I justify this as being my only source of entertainment, and I’m forgoing movies and dinners out, so it’s OK,” one Farmville addict told Cnet. Frugality, or self-deluded rationalization? [More]
Social Media Bigwigs Reveal Advertising Tactics
By July 25, 2010
Back in the day, advertising was supposed to be kinda sneaky — yeah, we knew companies were directing ads at us consumers in an effort to get us to buy stuff, but no one talked about it. Now, social media heavies like Twitter, Zynga (makers of Farmville, Mafia Wars and other time leechers) and LinkedIn are being totally open about their efforts. [More]
Tragedy Strikes: Facebook And Farmville Make Nice
By May 19, 2010
Facebook and Farmville and Mafia Wars-makers Zynga were bickering over in-game currency and the social network took a stand that hampered the game publisher’s ability to advertise through pseudo-updated on the site, causing the games to lose millions of players. [More]
Kid Racks Up $1,400 In Farmville After Stealing Mom's Credit Card
By April 8, 2010
A 12-year-old kid is probably getting his crops slashed and burned by his mum after he racked up $1,400 in Farmville purchases, draining his own savings and running up charges on her credit card. [More]
Mafia Wars CEO Brags About Scamming Users From Day One
By November 9, 2009
From the beginning, the profitability and viability of popular Facebook social networking games Mafia Wars and Farmville were predicated on the backs of scams, boasts Zynga CEO Mark Pincus in this video. “I did every horrible thing in the book just to get revenues,” he crows in the clip to a gathered bunch of fellow scumbag app developers.
Social Network Games: Fake Mobsters, Real Racket
By November 9, 2009
You might enjoy raking in money as a fake mobster in Mafia Wars, or collecting cotton subsidies in FarmVille, but TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington argues that the real racket in virtual games is for the companies that run them, and for the social networking sites that host them.
