Zynga, the San Francisco-based online games publisher, is shutting down 13 games due to underperformance, with 11 having already been taken offline.
The online game publisher started the termination of the once popular Facebook app games in October and proceeded with most of the closing off in December. Games such as Mafia Wars 2, PetVille, FishVille and ForestVille are all on the list.
The eliminations are based on the number of active users. Although the games initially rocketed in visits and likes on Facebook, there is now a great gap between the active players and fans.
Zynga is looking to capitalise on mobile games income and online real credit gambling. The application for gambling games in Nevada is still pending, however.
The goal is to move towards the real currency market from the mushroom movement of the basic online gaming field that is still the primary source of income at this stage.
PetVille, for example, has 7.5 million likes, but only 60,000 daily active users, according to AppData statistics.
“In place of ‘PetVille,’ we encourage you to play other Zynga games like ‘CastleVille,’ ‘ChefVille,’ ‘FarmVille 2,’ ‘Mafia Wars’ and ‘YoVille,’” the company’s PetVille Facebook post recommended.
PetVille, the last Facebook-based company to shut down, has promised their users a bonus package in virtual games in consolation of the discontinuation. The PetVille Facebook page contains more than 1,200 related complaints.
At the beginning of the week, Zynga’s market value on Nasdaq was said to be US $2.36.
