What Zynga's game closures say about the social gaming market

The recent hard times for the social gaming market have been harder on some games than others. Last week, social-gaming mega-publisher Zynga decided to shut down two well-established parts of its catalog. First, the servers for Roller Coaster Kingdom (RCK) were shut off, then Ponzi Inc., a promising game Zynga got as part of a Challenge Games acquisition less than a month ago, went dark for good.

So, what can we learn from the abrupt termination of these two games? Well, one lesson seems to be that the standards for success in social gaming are going to keep increasing -- at least for the big publishers. Despite their declining popularity, both Ponzi Inc. and Roller Coaster Kingdom had a relatively decent number of monthly active users when they were closed -- 221,000 players for Ponzi and 1.2 million players for RCK. That might not seem like much compared against Farmville's industry-leading 62 million monthly players, but it probably doesn't seem like chump change to many struggling social game makers just getting their start.

Obviously Zynga's resources are limited, and devoting resources to a game that attracts "only" one million players a month might not make sense -- especially when those resources could be put towards a more popular game. That said, I can't imagine letting the servers for these games limp along would have been a crushing expense for a company like Zynga. In fact, those costs would probably go down quickly as the player bases continued to shrink (although maybe not quickly enough -- a smaller user base probably eliminates some of the economies of scale that help amortize costs for mega-games).
Of course, there are other costs associated with keeping smaller games in a catalog -- technical support, ad sales, bug-catching programmers and database maintainers -- that were eliminated along with these games. Zynga likely saw the declining numbers for both games and decided these costs just weren't worth it anymore. Somehow, Zynga made the determination that the writing was on the wall for these games -- that the players had simply grown tired of playing and that it wasn't worth making the investment to draw them back with new content, new offers, and new advertising (We're guessing the ARPU numbers for both games may have played into this decision).

The implications of this kind of decision are pretty scary for Facebook games as a whole. Is there a time limit on how long shallow social games can survive without constant infusions of new content? Will players eventually get tired of even mega-popular games like Farmville and Treasure Isle and move on? Will companies abandon these games as soon as the numbers start to dip, or will they devote possibly futile time and effort into getting them to rebound? What happens to a game that attracts a lot of players but not many that actually want to pay money for virtual items?

Speaking of paying money, the shut down of Ponzi and RCK doesn't just represent the end of an amusing pastime for hundreds of thousands of people. It also means the destruction of a lot of virtual property that many players had invested real money in. Does Zynga just get to keep the money they pocketed from selling these ephemeral items, now deleted forever from some internal server bank?

From a legal standpoint, they probably do (let the EULA-signer beware), but from an ethical and player-relations standpoint, simply destroying people's virtual property is not a good move. Zynga obviously realizes this and is giving players some consideration for their in-game investments. Outstanding balances and recent purchases in Ponzi Inc. will be transferred to Frontierville credits, while Coaster Cash used in RCK will be converted to Favor Points in Vampire Wars.

Still, this seems like a less-than-ideal solution, especially if players don't want to play the game the new credits are being offered in. It seems doubtful that RCK players will be flocking to Vampire Wars, considering how different the two games are. Perhaps these kinds of problems will start to go away as the industry moves to a unified Facebook Credits model.

All in all, the closure of Ponzi Inc. and Roller Coaster Kingdom are barely going to send a ripple through the larger social gaming industry. But as more and more social gaming experiments are sacrificed to the altar of the bottom line, and as companies continue to consolidate their efforts towards a few mega-games, don't be surprised if the social gaming landscape of the near future starts to look very different from the one you see today.

Treetopia introduces PvP card game in its questing system

Treetopia started out very similar to most social games - the game gave you an area to decorate, buildings to build, and a shop full of pretty things to buy. Over the last few months, it has been differentiating itself by adding some truly unique features. The introduction of questing made the game feel far more interactive, allowing players to take an active part in accomplishing tasks that earn them XP. Now, Treetopia have taken their questing system and stretched it into a PvP-lite experience that puts players in the hotspot of challenging virtual depictions of their friends in a card game.

The card game is accessed by the "Combat" button, which brings up a list of friends to battle (in a Mafia Wars style). You select the friend you wish to battle, and the card game will begin. Unfortunately, this isn't true PvP because you aren't actually playing with your friend. Your friend is controlled by the game's AI and you have to pick the best moves to defeat them. This isn't a simple game though, and Playdom have recognized this by making a guide to the new questing card game. You do have to use tactics and pick your damaging and healing abilities correctly in order to beat your friend in the card game.

It's not flawless, but this level of depth in a social game goes a long way to combat the negativity that surrounds these type of games - critics are constantly insulting them for being nothing but clicks, no depth, and no skill. The question is, do players want this? In the past month, Treetopia has been losing some momentum but still has over 2.3 million monthly players. Time will tell.

FarmVille Pregnant Pigs & Piglets!

FarmVille Pregnant Pig belongs to...
FarmVille Pregnant Pig
Remember the Pregnant Pig that Lexilicious mentioned in a past FarmVille Podcast, dated June 18th? FarmVille Freak also published the Pregnant Pig's Piglet as an unreleased item.

The Pregnant Pig is now "live" in FarmVille.

The Pregnant Pig works similar to adoptable animals in that you find one on your farm and share via FaceBook newsfeed. Each pregnant pig has a collar with one of your FarmVille neighbors name. Only this neighbor will have the opportunity to adopt the Pregnant Pig. You "return" the Pregnant Pig by posting the notice on the neihgbors farm listed on the collar.

Once adopted, if you provide a home for the Pregnant Pig and take good care of her, in 24 hours there will be a baby Piglets for you to share with your FarmVille neighbors!

Official word from FarmVille's Community Manager, Lexilicious:

    "Piglets!

    When tending your farm, you now have a chance to find a sow that is expecting piglets. This little lady will belong to one of your neighbors. The neighbor she belongs to is selected at random.

    If you find an expecting sow, she must be returned to her owner. You will receive a pop-up that will allow you to post to your friends wall informing them that you have found their pig.

    If a Neighbor has found a pig that belongs to you, you can claim your lost pig by clicking on the applicable feed that has been posted on your wall. After being taken to your farm, you will receive a pop-up that will prompt you to place your little lady on your farm. (After all, a gift box is no place for piglets!)

    After she is placed, you will see a message asking you to return in 24 hours. Upon your return, you will find that your pig gave birth to a healthy litter of piglets that you can now share with your friends!" (Source: Official FarmVille Forum)

Note, currently farmers are experiencing technical issues after finding Pregnant Pigs on their farms. Some of the errors include there is no or "?" neighbor listed on her collar and errors are occurring whenever you attempt to share the Pregnant Pig by posting on your neighbor's wall.

Also many are reporting that the Pregnant Pigs they are finding "belong" to inactive FarmVille neighbors who no longer seem to play FarmVille. Meaning, the name listed on the collar is that of an inactive farmer. Is this is a way for FarmVille to encourage inactive players to return to the farm life? What do you think?

This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.

Is FarmVille Replacing Black Stallion & Black Stallion Foals with Black Horses & Foals?

FarmVille Black Stallion on a Farm
Do you remember when the Black Stallion was mysteriously available in the FarmVille Market for only a few minutes? If not, read this FarmVille Freak Post, "FarmVille Black Stallion Mystery". Well, despite being released for only minutes in the FarmVille Market, some lucky farmers were quick enough to snag their own Black Stallion for 40,000 coins. This release was unintentional by FarmVille.

According to some farmers, Zynga is reportedly correcting their unintentional error by refunding the 40,000 coins and replacing Black Stallions and Black Stallion Foals with plain ordinary Black Horses and Black Foals.

FarmVille Freak has not confirmed that this is true and we are waiting a response from Zynga.

From FarmVille Freak Cecil:

    "Here is an email I recieved today regarding the Black Stallion and Black Stallion Foals.... makes me sick to my stomach... Oh and I am still missing my new Breton Horse!

    Hello Cecil,

    Thanks for contacting Zynga.

    We are aware that there was a glitch in FarmVille that allowed users to purchase the Black Stallion for coins in the Market for a very brief time. This was not intended. We have resolved the issue by removing Black Stallions and Black Stallion foals from the game.

    Users with Black Stallions received Black Horses, instead. Users with Black Stallions foals received Black Foals.

    If you purchased the Black Stallion from the Market, you were credited 40,000 coins for each purchase, which has automatically been added to your coin balance. We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your patience and understanding.

    Kind regards,
    Lucas S
    Zynga Customer Support"


This article originally appeared on FarmVille Freak.