From Mafia Wars to Words With Friends, there was no shortage of ways to have fun with your hundreds of Facebook friends. That said, not everything worked perfectly. Tap or click here to see how millions of Words With Friends accounts had their data exposed. Out of all the classic Facebook games, the most popular of all had to be FarmVille. This fun distraction was enjoyed by millions of users at its peak, and many were active players until recently. But now, its developer is saying the sun is finally setting on FarmVille for the last time. Is this the end of an era?
FarmVille buys the farm
After 11 years of bountiful harvests, the original FarmVille game is finally coming to an end. In a press release, Zynga announced that FarmVille would be discontinued as of the end of 2020. The reason? Adobe Flash Player will no longer be supported by Facebook after December 31, 2020. This means the game has no way to run — and there aren’t enough active players to warrant a new version of the game or migration to a new site. At the height of its popularity, FarmVille boasted an average of 73 million monthly users in mid-2009. But the game’s popularity lagged as imitators and sequels took the stage in years to come. But if you have money to burn, don’t worry — Zynga’s still accepting in-app purchases until November 17. After that date, the game’s payment system won’t work anymore. Then, it can finally retire in peace.
What should I do if I still want to play FarmVille?
In case you want to get your farming fix elsewhere, there are plenty of other games that offer a similar experience with better graphics and faster performance. In fact, FarmVille itself isn’t completely dead. You can actually play one of its sequels like FarmVille 2: Tropic Escape or FarmVille 2: Country Escape. There’s even a third version of FarmVille set to debut on smartphones in the near future. Of course, if you want to play games online, you don’t have to rely on Facebook or FarmVille. There are plenty of excellent gaming websites that are safe to visit and won’t cost you an arm and a leg in microtransactions. Tap or click here to see our 10 favorite sites for free online games.