Farmville developer Zynga losing members, may leave Facebook

Two weeks ago, Farmville creators Zynga lost 3.1 million monthly active users across it’s Facebook gaming empire. Just last week, that number grew to 4.2 million. But even with losses in the millions, Zynga still stands as the leading social game developer with more than 244 million monthly active users total.

Social media company SecondShares posits that the loss in gamers may be due to the “branded” games now coming to Facebook. For instance, Family Feud, introduced to Facebook two months ago, has already passed more than 4 million users. Other gaming companies like Electronic Arts, 2K, Capcom and Microsoft are all hopping on board the social network site as well.

However Kotaku believes it may also be the effect of Facebook’s recent renovations. Zynga can no longer advertise their games through faux in-game news alerts due to the elimination of notifications pertaining to gaming applications.

Either way, TechCrunch reported last week that Zynga may be leaving Facebook altogether. After Facebook allegedly tried to push a deal with Zynga, forcing the company to remain exclusively on the Facebook platform, Zynga has been attempting to distance itself from the site. For instance, Zynga has launched Farmville.com that allows users to play the game off of Facebook and is reportedly in talks to launch a new social game network called Zynga Live.

Running their games on Zynga Live would stop Zynga from having to pay a 30% fee for Facebook Credits – the only payment platform Zynga and others can use. However it would also take away the integrated social aspect that has made games like Farmville and Mafia Wars so popular.

Read more: http://www.geek.com/articles/games/farmville-developer-zynga-losing-members-may-leave-facebook-20100512/#ixzz0no1Zl535

FarmVille creator experiencing drought?

Players in Zynga's popular Facebook games are dropping by the millions

It looks like some people haven’t been watering their crops.

FarmVille creator Zynga’s monthly active Facebook users have sharply declined. Two weeks ago, the company behind the hugely popular “Mafia Wars,” “Treasure Isle,” and of course, social gaming juggernaut “FarmVille, lost 3.1 million active users. In the last week, 4.2 million more active players fell by the wayside, according to SecondShares. The industry monitor reports that Zynga currently has 244 million active users.

These rapid declines may be due to the fact that Facebook recently changed how members receive notifications and gift requests. As of March 1, Facebook no longer delivers application notifications. These seemingly-constant and often cluttering alerts on Facebook served as free advertising for “FarmVille” and other social network games, regularly reminding users to play.

Things may get worse for Zynga as other video game companies enter the Facebook ring. EA, the company behind “Battlefield: Bad Company 2,” spent $300 million for Zynga competitor Playfish last year, showing a significant investment in the future of social gaming. EA's first game, “FIFA Superstars,” is reportedly coming to Facebook soon.

Zynga's success grabbed the attention of a lot of heavy hitters in the game industry, as well as several smaller companies. With this new flood of games, we’ll have to see if the “FarmVille” creator can keep its head above water.