Khurram Aziz email: k.aziz@mobilenapps.com
Social gaming leader Zynga is calling time on almost a dozen of its Facebook games as it seeks to cut costs. The titles include Petville, Mafia Wars 2 and Treasure Isle.
The San Franciso-based company will instead concentrate on its other core titles, such as its hugely successful Farmville 2 and the original Mafia Wars.
It seems that Zynga's engineers, designers and product teams were spread too thin over its range of titles, as the company saw its share price plummet from $10 a year ago, to $2.33 today.
Petville reportedly had 7.5 million likes on Facebook and 60,000 daily active users, which is only a fraction of what its other hugely popular titles generated.
Zynga's original hit, Farmville at its peak, had more than 10 million active users, according to AppData. Its other title, Cityville also broke the 10 million mark, and Castleville is reported to have had 8.4 million daily players, according to AppData.
Disgruntled Petville players have taken to the game's Facebook page to voice their dissatisfaction.
"They should reconsider this," said Jon David Cowden. "Like most of you I just truly loved my Pet. I had saved the very early treats that were offered and they were just so fun to feed your pet and friends. They should have just kept it that way."
The full list of Zynga titles which are disappearing are:
PetVille - Shut down Dec. 30
Mafia Wars 2 - Shut down Dec. 30
FishVille - Shut down Dec. 5
Vampire Wars - Shut down Dec. 5
Treasure Isle - Shut down De. 5
Indiana Jones Adventure World - Closed to new players, shuts down Jan. 14
Mafia Wars Shakedown - Pulled from app stores
Forestville - Pulled from app stores
Montopia - Shut down Dec. 21
Mojitomo - Pulled from app stores
Word Scramble Challenge - Pulled from app stores
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