In an era, when the world was particularly hooked to the PlayStations and the 16-bit nostalgia, came an online game that made gamers set their alarm clocks for early mornings all to inspect their virtual farms.
FarmVille, a game conceptualised and published by Zynga in 2009 on Facebook, changed the way we looked at games.
The farming-simulation online game which wasn't conventionally "exciting", had people returning to their online farms regularly to plough, plant, harvest, and raise their livestock. It didn't stop there. The makers and Facebook ensured that even if you had your farms all managed and up to date, your friends would be needing your help with their curated lands and keep their growth alive and flourishing.
As they say, all good things come to an end, after a successful run of more than 11 years, Zynga is finally downing the shutters on FarmVille for Facebook.
On Saturday, the official Facebook page of FarmVille announced its closure in a post that read: "Thank you is a small word but when fertilized with love and beautiful memories it means the world to us. So here’s a great BIG THANK YOU for farming with us through it all."
In a subsequent announcement blog, the makers further added: "As previously stated, Adobe will stop distributing and updating Flash Player for all web browsers, and Facebook will stop supporting Flash games on the platform completely after December 31st, 2020. FarmVille will therefore be directly affected as a result of this."
Extending their gratitude to the gaming community, Zynga further added that FarmVille would be available on Facebook till December 31, 2020, following which it will permanently be shut down.
Those who made the game that it is today, the loyal FarmVille farmers, thanked the company and were left emotional.
"I learned a lot of vegetables, trees, animal species and various food recipes through Farmville. It also helped me easy my anxiety. The decorations are beautiful and made me dream of a future home of mine. I miss my farm too. Thank you for your company," wrote one Facebook user.
"I had so much fun playing farmville, had lots of animals and a puppy I loved. I could not wait to get home to play it. I had real animals, I even said to them wait i feed you soon mummy needs to feed the animals. Fours hours later I looked at my two cats and dog still waiting for their dinner lol. I was so evolve with the game I forgot my real furbabies,(sic)." chimed in another.
"Farmville was my Jam when I first joined Facebook in 2009. Thank you for easing my anxiety. I’m the proud farmer on FarmVille 2 country escape and tropical escape."
"No please don't go! 😭 my mom and I literally have been playing this since it started. I remember when you had the 7-11 promo. I went to every 7-11 to get the special items. Oh my heart is breaking!!!"
"I woke up midnight, sometimes dawn ,set my alarm , wherever I went I have to go home just to harvest my crops, collect gifts , so fun and memories . Will miss u farmville,(sic)."
There is, however, good news for the FarmVille loyalists as "Farmville 2: Tropic Escape" and the upcoming worldwide launch of "FarmVille 3" will be available on mobile.