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[Macho Madness]

http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/zynga-to-shutter-cityville-this-spring/616386

Social games company Zynga has announced it will be closing CityVille on Facebook, marking the end of an era for the once-mega city-building game. As first spotted by CEGamers, CityVille will close its doors on April 30.

Played a bit of it back when. It was okay. Crazy that it once had over 100 million players, and then it just drifts away.

 

[ploppy]

Just goes to show that none of these "casual" games really last very long, but do shine brightly. That's not necessarily a problem so long as the devs behind them plan for each game to have a limited life span, and they move onto the next.

 

[LiamR]

That Don Mattrick difference.

 

[Shift Breaker]

Don done it again.

 

[CrunchyFrog]

Tis a foolish man who builds his house upon the sand

 

[vareon]

While I understand the very nature of games as a service, I still can't come to like it. Once it's dead it's dead. No LTTP, no playthrough after 10+ years, no new players discovering old gems...

It's not how I want my game, if I ever make any, to be, at least.

 

[SerTapTap]

While I understand the very nature of games as a service, I still can't come to like it. Once it's dead it's dead. No LTTP, no playthrough after 10+ years, no new players discovering old gems...

It's not how I want my game, if I ever make any, to be, at least.

Yeah, it's a big part of why I can't get into MMOs. Though fortunately most F2P games like CityVille have terrible gameplay anyway so I wouldn't miss them anyway.

 

[Finale Fireworker]

I wonder if the people playing these games will ever crave a more permanent and rewarding gaming experience. I wonder if they even recognize them as games and if somebody who put hours into CityVille might be drawn to something like Civilization later down the road.

I'm trying to find a silver lining to this industry.

 

[Nokterian]

Byzynga!

 

[moggio]

And nothing of value was lost etc.

 

[Nuknuk]

Good riddance.

 

[Randdalf]

That Don Mattrick difference.

Well, it actually is, because his goal is moving all of Zynga's stuff onto mobile and off Facebook.

 

[burnside13]

I intended to try that game... one day.... Meh

 

[SenatorBot]

I think it's interesting to note the similarities between facebook games and mobile games and how fast they grow and die off in a few years due to the fickle casual audience and the fact that most of the money is obtained from the 1% of whales.

Mobile games is booming just like facebook games but I can't help but feel in 5-10 years, we'll see popular mobile games die off like this and abandoned once they stop making money and people move on to the next big thing. With major companies shutting down conventional studios that make steady profits in a growing audience to chase after the fickle casual gaming crowd, I can't help but feel the folly behind their intentions when it eventually turns to bust in a few years.