Mar 31, 2015

Zynga Announces Game Closures

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We knew a bunch of Zynga games were going to close on or before April 30th [1]. Some of them have already been announced within the games themselves while others were speculation [1]. Today Zynga posted a list on their blog [1].
“we have made the tough but important decision to close 11 of our older Web and mobile games, some of which have been in market for more than 4 years. The games impacted are Ayakashi: Ghost Guild, Bubble Safari Mobile, Bubble Safari Ocean, CastleVille, ChefVille, Duck Dynasty Slots, Pioneer Trail, Puzzle Charms, Skateboard Slam, Riches of Olympus Slots and Zynga Slots.  All games will be ending by April 30th.”
closeures

16 comments:

  1. you scared me. ;-) had me thing MW was gonna be on that list.

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  2. And so we dodge another spinning bullet. Maybe because the 'Close' button is from Team Spockholm :)

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  3. So they finally let us know that Mafia Wars is not one of them.
    Just in time so that people can renew their VIPs with confidence.
    Of course!

    I cannot believe people are still spending enough money on this
    game to keep it going!

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    Replies
    1. I spend just so that I can efficiently and regularly wipe my arse with your whiney face.

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    2. @ Anonymous

      Then I hit the heal button and laugh as you spend yourself into oblivion.

      Delete
  4. It always makes me wonder just how much MW used to make when it had millions of users. It's obvious MW has had one of if not the hardest time of all the Zynga games over the years. Most games are lucky if they get a dedicated news feed scanning script and look what various script makers have done with MW over the years. Account selling all over the place. Things never got easier from Zynga either. Some games siffer scripts. Others suffer from unfair playing fields while other suffer from having way to many events. Yet again MW got the lot.

    To be able to go through all that and still be surviving year after year MW's profit clearly had a long way to fall before hitting the bottom. And it's not like the games struggling to survive either. The game is still getting updates at a remarkably fast pace. It's not just surviving it's thriving compared to most of Zynga's titles these days.

    Long live the great MW

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    Replies
    1. Not sure how you can look at MW today and say it's thriving. When you have most of the player base wondering if the game will be shut down I think it's fair to say the game is struggling to survive. Just because MW isn't closing down April 30th doesn't mean it's safe for the rest of the year. Zynga closes games all the time and it wouldn't surprise most of us who have played this game for years for it to close up show anytime now. But like you I am curious about how much money this game made when it was in it's prime.

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  5. I am relieved as are I am sure most of us who still enjoy playing MW. Having had the experience trying to play a game with no support at all even when there were payment problems, I can appreciate Zynga's attempts at support even when they're exasperating and sometimes limited. Yay for the reprieve!

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    Replies
    1. They always carried $1Bn cash in hand making them attractive to wall st etc.. losing $50m per 1/4 now it seems

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  6. Wow mafia wars is not in the pack! whewww happy to know! Thank you very much for your updates!!!

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  7. You can almost bet that the next wave of game cuts will almost certainly include Mafia Wars

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    1. Agreed. With Zynga trying to move more into the mobile business I would be surprised if MW made it to the end of the year. Of course it's lasted longer than most of us could ever imagine but at some point the low player base will affect Zynga's bottom line and they will shut it down.

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  8. Sooner or later, they will find they get NO players for new games due to their poor treatment of players. I for one will never play another Zynga game again.

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    Replies
    1. I'm with you. I have actually given up all zynga games with the exception of MW. I think the only reason I continue to play MW is because I have spent a considerable amount of money on it in the past. I'm no longer spending, though, because of the fact they refuse to listen to players' complaints about too many timed events at the same time, requiring 24-7 attention to the game. Many of us would like to have a slightly more relaxed gaming experience (longer timers on these crazy events would help), but that is impossible with MW. If you don't play all day and all night, you miss out on completing events. Their demands on our time is simply not reasonable.

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  9. I thought that the announcement covered all games to be cancelled but one more game will be closed by May 15, KRE-O CityVille Invasion:
    http://www.zyngaplayerforums.com/announcement.php?f=2212

    ReplyDelete

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