Whether it's Uno or Fortnite, games are a major part of many American kids' upbringings. Some manage to withstand the test of time (like Monopoly and Scrabble), and others get updated with technology (like Mario Kart 64 of the '90s transforming into the new Mario Kart: Home Circuit for the Nintendo Switch). But some games simply run their course. Exhibit A: FarmVille, a hugely popular game Facebook users of the 2010s will certainly remember. It's probably been awhile since you've played, but after this year, sadly, you will no longer be able to. The developers of Farmville just announced they are discontinuing the original game. Read on to learn more, and for older phenomena kids these days won't recall, check out Fads Kids Born After 2000 Will Never Understand.
"Following an incredible 11 years since its initial launch back in 2009, we are officially announcing the closure of the original FarmVille game on Facebook," the game's developer Zynga wrote on the FarmVille Facebook Help page recently. The developers revealed that they had made this choice based on Adobe's decision to stop updating Flash Player for all web browsers. The decision is forcing Facebook to stop supporting Flash games on the platform completely starting at the beginning of 2021. According to the developers, FarmVille will "be directly affected as a result of this." The game was developed using Flash software, which had been around for about 25 years until Adobe announced in July that it would stop developing and updating Flash.
"We’re aware that many of you have been with us since the very beginning, helping to build an incredible global community of players over the years who’ve enjoyed this game just as much as we have," the FarmVille developers wrote. "For that, we say thank you."
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FarmVille originally launched on Facebook in June 2009, allowing players to create and maintain their own virtual farms by planting, harvesting crops, and even caring for their own virtual farm animals. It was the top game by daily active users on Facebook from Aug. 2009 to Dec. 2010. In fact, in 2009, FarmVille had more active users than Twitter, according to AdWeek.
If you were on Facebook then, it's probably hard to forget getting constant FarmVille notifications from your friends and family members to trade crops or help their farm in some way. In fact, the game single-handedly brought Facebook to a wider demographic. As Social Media Week pointed out, it was "FarmVille [that] introduced those who weren't teenagers to a social media site they could get behind."
FarmVille will continue to be playable until Dec. 31 of this year. In-app purchases for the game will only be available until Nov. 17, however, according to the developers. After that day, the game's payment system will be turned off and FarmVille will be unable to accept any in-app payments or process any refunds.
"Any remaining credits that you have during this period should be used before December 31st, 2020," the developers explained. "We are also working on fun in-game activities to be announced soon that are designed to make your remaining time with FarmVille even more enjoyable."
Dedicated FarmVille players may have to say goodbye to the original game from 2009, but Zynga still has other FarmVille games available to play. FarmVille 2: Tropic Escape and FarmVille 2: Country Escape are available to play on mobile and web browsers, including Facebook. The company also revealed that FarmVille 3 will soon be launched on mobile worldwide. And for more things you may have to say goodbye to this year, check out This Popular Clothing Chain Just Announced It's Closing 250 Stores.
