In an attempt to take a more lean and efficient form, online gaming giant Zynga has announced that it has shut down, stopped accepting new users and removed from application stores, 11 games.
The move will allow the company to withdraw resources from not-so-popular games like Forest Ville and Treasure Isle and channelize them into popular and successful titles like FarmVille 2 and Mafia Wars. The announcement is in line with the cost reduction initiatives the company announced in late October in a bid to beef up its sagging profitability.
Zynga is now trying to cut dead weight after its share price plummeted over 76 percent over last year. The stock is currently trading at $2.33 compared to its initial public offering price of $10. After ending its 'special relationship' with Facebook recently, the company has been finding it a little hard to project a distinct image among its rivals. Additionally, revenues took a hit from the migration of a good chunk of the social network's users to a mobile version of Facebook.
FishVille, VampireWars and TreasureIsle were taken down on December 5th, PetVille and Mafia Wars 2 went down on December 30th, Indiana Jones Adventure World on January 14th and Monotopia on December 21st. Mojitomo, Word Scramble Challenge, Forestville and MafiaWarsShakedown have also been pulled from the app store.
The big question is, what happens to users who've put in lots of money and weeks, months and years into these games? Zynga made this announcement to make amends "As a loyal PetVille player, you are eligible for a one-time, complimentary bonus package in one of either CastleVille, or ChefVille, or FarmVille 2, or Mafia Wars or YoVille. You can start the process by logging into PetVille and clicking on the "Redeem" button. Please note that this offer will be valid only until Dec 30, 2012".
And what did users have to say about this? The following are some of the comments that we found in response to the announcement of the shut down of PetVille.
"I can't get in to PetVille even to say goodbye to my pet Tommy and to take pictures. PLEASE LET US IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"WELL i GUESS MY DEAR SOPHIE IS GONE!!! So glad I fed and dressed her warm yesterday,,, going to miss her!!! "
Most users have threatened to move into "PetCity', a rival game with a similar concept.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Technology News
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.