Social Gaming

Virtual Robert Irvine is Coming to Rescue Your ChefVille Restaurant From Disaster

Robert Irvine, the Food Network's answer to shouty chef Gordon Ramsay, will be making a two-week virtual appearance starting today in Zynga's new Facebook game, ChefVille. According to the press release, "Irvine will face his biggest challenge yet as he helps ChefVille players enhance their in-game ... More >>

Zynga Releases ChefVille, the Video Game That Could Be Your Next Obsession

Today, San Francisco game titan Zynga announces the release of a new game called ChefVille, the latest in the internationally successful and addictive Ville series that also includes FarmVille, CityVille, and FrontierVille. Rather than just being a game with a single-minded objective, ChefVille has ... More >>

Is Zynga's 'Evil' Corporate Culture Now a Business Liability?

Doing evil?​In a business sector known for cutthroat, amoral maneuvering, social-game developer Zynga stands out as, well, particularly cutthroat and amoral. At least that's the view of many of its competitors and former employees, some of whom we interviewed for a September 2010 SF Weekly cover s ... More >>

Zynga Pressures Employees to Give Back Stock Ahead of IPO

Mark Pincus​Social-gaming company Zynga, along with a handful of other large tech businesses, was successful earlier this year in getting the city of San Francisco to forgo its share of tax revenue on the firm's stock options. Now it appears that wasn't enough: Zynga CEO Mark Pincus has reportedly ... More >>

iPhone App to Push Earthquake-Themed Social Networking

Yow: Let's play earthquake preparedness!!!!​San Francisco's government is creating an iPhone app patterned after FarmVille and Foursquare where players can prepare themselves for an earthquake, rather than feed imaginary chickens or collect badges.Called SF Heroes, the app is scheduled to be relea ... More >>

Zynga, Vostu, SocialApps: Are Legal Squabbles Signs of the Social Gaming Apocalypse?

Drought years ahead?​Zynga has always been the target of various allegations of pirating other companies' ideas, but in the last week, tech-world buzz on the twin topics of Zynga and copyright infringement has risen to a deafening level. Last Thursday, Zynga filed a lawsuit against Brazilian game ... More >>

Zynga Has a Hit with 'Empires and Allies'

Empires and Allies allows users to build cities and go to war​Zynga's latest Facebook game, Empires and Allies, is being closely watched. Tech-industry observers see the combat and city-building game as a gambit by the successful social-game developer to expand its offerings beyond the breathtakin ... More >>

Empires and Allies, New Zynga Game, Launches Today

Helllllooo, Scarlett​Zynga is launching its new online game today on Facebook, and it promises to have, well, a little more game. What that means is you can expect Empires and Allies to involve combat, which is straying from Zynga's typical nonviolent style which you will find in games like FarmVi ... More >>

Lady Gaga to Stream Songs on Her Own Version of FarmVille: Dear God Please No

FarmVilleFreak.comA glimpse of the future?​ Stefani Germanotta just killed us a little. Germanotta, aka Lady Gaga, plans to release streams of songs off her new album, Born This Way, via a new online game, GagaVille, made by S.F. firm Zynga, of FarmVille fame. You will have to compete to pre ... More >>

Zynga Scams Lawsuit to Move Forward

Treacherous ground?​A federal judge has found that Zynga is responsible for allegedly misleading business offers marketed to players of its popular Facebook games, setting the stage for a class-action lawsuit against the San Francisco-based company to move ahead.The plaintiff in the case, Rebecca ... More >>

Zynga Faces Class-Action Lawsuit over Alleged Privacy Breach

Life on the farm is never dull for long​No matter what they do, some companies seem chronically incapable of playing peacefully in the sandbox of American capitalism with others. San Francisco-based game developer Zynga -- the wildly successful firm behind such popular Facebook applications as&nbs ... More >>

FrontierVille, Latest Zynga Release, Is Quickly Losing Users

That little bastard might not be smiling for long​One of the issues raised in our September cover story on social-gaming company Zynga was the long-term viability of a business based on copying and aggressively marketing inane but addictive game concepts. The Facebook applications that are making ... More >>

SF Weekly Letters

'Halo: Reach' Earns $200 Million, Shows Console Games Are Still Big Business

Still printing money, it seems​One of the more vivid side discussions provoked by our story last week on social-gaming company Zynga's allegedly predatory business practices was about the merits of Zynga-style games. The company specializes in Facebook apps that entice users to compulsively build ... More >>

Zynga Offers Customers Who Waste Their Lives Playing Its Games Up to $24,000 Today

Today, FarmVille crops yield real cash​It ain't been a great week in the press for Zynga, the San Francisco-based creator of popular online games such as FarmVille. Last Wednesday we published a cover story in which ex-employees dished on Zynga's allegedly "evil" practice of copying competitors' g ... More >>

FarmVillains

Steal someone else's game. Change its name. Make millions. Repeat.

Former Zynga Employees Talk About Copying Games for Mark Pincus' 'Evil' Online Empire

The latest SF Weekly cover story explores Zynga's culture of game-copying​Zynga's cutthroat business practices have long been a subject of speculation in the social-gaming industry. The company behind such hit Facebook applications as FarmVille and Mafia Wars has, in the words of a recent tradem ... More >>

Zynga Mafia Wars Stickers Prompt City Attorney to Go to the Mattresses

Yes, money is power. But having the Unfair Competition Law at your disposal is power, too.​San Francisco's city attorney has decided that money is not enough to compensate for ad firm Davis Elen plastering 4,000 Zynga Mafia Wars stickers onto San Francisco sidewalks. And, unless ad executives agre ... More >>

Zynga Sued over 'Mafia Wars' Trademark by Digital Chocolate: Read the Lawsuit Here

Who says a war is bad for business?​San Francisco-based social-gaming company Zynga is being sued for alleged trademark infringement over its popular Facebook game, Mafia Wars.Digital Chocolate, another online gaming company, claims in a lawsuit filed in federal court that it owns rights to the na ... More >>

Zynga Off the Hook for Mafia Wars Vandalism, S.F. City Attorney Says

​It looks like Zynga is not going to face legal or financial consequences for alleged sidewalk vandalism carried out as part of a marketing campaign for the San Francisco-based company's new online game, Mafia Wars: Las Vegas.Instead, according to Matt Dorsey, spokesman for San Francisco City Atto ... More >>

Zynga Fingers Ad Agency for Alleged 'Mafia Wars' Sidewalk Vandalism

The city attorney sends his regards...​We reported here yesterday on accusations against social-gaming company Zynga by the San Francisco City Attorney's office. The city is ready to go to the mattresses over alleged vandalism of city property carried out as part of an advertising campaign by the ... More >>

Zynga in Hot Water with San Francisco City Attorney Over 'Mafia Wars' Marketing

Dennis Herrera is taking off the gloves over Zynga's 'Mafia Wars'​The San Francisco City Attorney's office is going after social-gaming company Zynga -- maker of such popular Facebook applications as FarmVille and Mafia Wars -- for what it calls an "illegal and actionable" marketing campaign to pr ... More >>