Playfish was a developer of free-to-play
social network game
A social network game (sometimes simply referred to as a social media game, social gaming, social video game or online social game) is a type of online game that is played through social networks or social media. They typically feature multipl ...
s. Playfish was founded in 2007 by Kristian Segerstråle, Sebastien de Halleux, Sami Lababidi, and Shukri Shammas.
It closed in 2013. Playfish in the past had attracted up to 55 million users a month, with over 37 million users coming from
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
users. In October 2008, they secured
US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
17 million in
venture capital
Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to start-up company, startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth poten ...
funding from
Accel Partners
Accel, formerly known as Accel Partners, is an American venture capital firm. Accel works with startups in seed, early and growth-stage investments. The company has offices in Palo Alto, California and San Francisco, California, with additional ...
and
Index Ventures
Index Ventures is a European venture capital firm with dual headquarters in San Francisco and London, investing in technology-enabled companies with a focus on e-commerce, fintech, mobility, gaming, infrastructure/ AI, and security. Since its ...
. The company was acquired by
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the ...
in 2009, with the last of Playfish's games being retired in 2013.
History
''Who has the Biggest Brain?'' was the company's first release.
It was one of the first Facebook games to attract millions of daily players,
and allowed the company to raise the funding necessary to produce other games. The company made money by selling
virtual goods
Virtual goods are non-physical objects and money purchased for use in online communities or online games. Digital goods, on the other hand, may be a broader category including digital books, music, and movies. Virtual goods are intangible by defin ...
inside its games.
On Monday, November 9, 2009,
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the ...
announced their acquisition of Playfish for $400 million. The acquisition was initially for $275 million cash and $25 million in equity—with a further $100 million in performance-based bonuses available if the company hits targets set by EA executives. As of February 2013, all four of the original founders have left the company, with Lababidi and Shammas setting up educational developer
Mindshapes
Mindshapes is an interactive learning company that creates virtual worlds and apps that help children and adults learn through gameplay. Founded in October 2010, the company is headquartered in London and has offices in Los Angeles and San Franc ...
, and Segerstråle returning to the world of startups.
On June 14, 2013, all of the Playfish-developed games have been retired while ''
Madden NFL 13 Social'' was retired on September 2, 2013 and can no longer be played on Facebook. The last 3 games to be retired (''Pet Society'', ''The Sims Social'', and ''SimCity Social'') were retired on June 17, 2013.
List of games
Notable games
''Restaurant City''
In ''Restaurant City'', players own a restaurant in a set environment. The goal is to run an exceedingly popular restaurant and increase in restaurant level and dish quality. A restaurant needs at least two employees to function; a chef and a waiter. Through popularity, a restaurant can attract more customers. As a restaurant attracts more customers, it needs more employees. A restaurant gains the ability to hire more employees as it rises in level. The restaurant also grows in size as it gains levels, and can serve drinks and grow certain ingredients in a garden.
At its peak, ''Restaurant City'' had more than 18 million monthly active users. This number dropped to 1.8 million by 2012, and the game was retired on June 29, 2012.
''Pet Society''
In ''
Pet Society
''Pet Society'' was a social-network game developed by Playfish that could be played on Facebook. The game ranked as one of the most popular Facebook applications. Players could design their pets by choosing genders, names, colors and altering ap ...
'', players own virtual pets in a "neighborhood." Players can dress up their pets, decorate their homes, go fishing, cook dishes, and dig for treasures. Gaining "paw points" allows players to eventually level up to Level 100. Players can also send gifts and do a crafting challenge to make an item. It was announced on April 15, 2013 that the game would be retired on June 14, 2013, however it was retired on June 17, 2013 instead.
''Madden NFL Superstars''
''Madden NFL Superstars'' is a spin-off of the popular ''
Madden NFL
''Madden NFL'' (known as ''John Madden Football'' until 1993) is an American football video game series developed by EA Tiburon for EA Sports. It is named after Pro Football Hall of Fame coach and commentator John Madden and sold more than 130 m ...
''
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...
video game series. Players create a team out of current real-life NFL players and compete in 3 different types of games: league games against computer generated teams, scrimmage games against friends, and scrimmage games against real NFL teams. As players progress they collect coins to purchase upgrades to their stadiums, collect fans, hire NFL coaches, and purchase tiered rating level card packs of NFL players to add to their rosters. It was retired on May 14, 2013, while replaced with ''Madden NFL 13 Social'', which retired on September 2, 2013.
''The Sims Social''
''
The Sims Social
''The Sims Social'' was a Facebook addition to the ''Sims'' series of video games. It was announced during the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2011 press conference. As with the original ''Sims'' games, ''The Sims Social'' lets the user create th ...
'' is a Facebook addition to ''
The Sims
''The Sims'' is a series of life simulation game, life simulation video games developed by Maxis and video game publisher, published by Electronic Arts. The franchise has sold nearly 200 million copies worldwide, and it is one of the best-selling ...
'' franchise. This game took place in a fictional town called Littlehaven. In ''The Sims Social'', players create their own Sim, or character, which they can customize. They can then interact with the Sims of their friends, decorate their home, advance their Sim in their dream job and develop romantic relationships. The game often taking some inspirations based on famous public figures such as
Lady Gaga
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...
and
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
. Unlike other ''The Sims'' games, only one
NPC was introduced and can interact with player's Sim, Bella Goth.
On February 9, 2012, ''The Sims Social'' won the Social Networking Game of the Year award at the 15th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards and February 15, 2012, the game was nominated for best online browser game by the British Academy Video Game Awards - a subsidiary of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. It was announced on April 15, 2013 that the game would be retired on June 14, 2013, however it was retired on June 17, 2013 instead.
''SimCity Social''
''
SimCity Social
''SimCity Social'' is a defunct online social game for the Facebook social network where users create their own city and interact with cities of their Facebook friends. The game was developed by Playfish and published by Electronic Arts. The game ...
'' is a city building game which allows the player to build city. This is the Facebook game version of the ''
SimCity
''SimCity'' is an open-ended city-building video game series originally designed by Will Wright. The first game in the series, ''SimCity'', was published by Maxis in 1989 and were followed by several sequels and many other spin-off "''Sim ...
'' franchise. It was announced on April 15, 2013 that the game would be retired on June 14, 2013, however it was retired on 17 June 2013 instead.
Playfish Cash
Players were eligible to buy "Playfish Cards" at
Walmart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
,
Walgreens
Walgreen Company, d/b/a Walgreens, is an American company that operates the second-largest pharmacy store chain in the United States behind CVS Health. It specializes in filling prescriptions, health and wellness products, health information, a ...
, and
Toys "R" Us
Toys "R" Us is an American toy, clothing, and baby product retailer owned by Tru Kids (doing business as Tru Kids Brands) and various others. The company was founded in 1957; its first store was built in April 1948, with its headquarters loc ...
stores. Once redeemed on the Playfish website, players earn "Playfish Cash" (PFC) to spend on virtual goods in games.
Prior April 19, 2011, all active Playfish games used a uniform premium currency called "Playfish Cash", and among players it was often called ''PFC''. Playfish Cash could be used for all Playfish games in one. Later, the premium currency was changed into individual cash types for each game.
Marketing
In August 2011, Playfish was confirmed as the official shirt sponsor of the newly formed, supporter owned English football club
AFC Rushden & Diamonds
A.F.C. Rushden & Diamonds is an English football club based in Rushden in Northamptonshire. They played their opening season at Kiln Park, the home of Raunds Town, in 2011–12 and subsequently shared the Dog & Duck ground with Wellingboroug ...
.
Notes
References
External links
Official Playfish websitePlayfish forum
{{Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Myspace
Companies based in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
British companies established in 2007
British companies disestablished in 2013
Video game companies established in 2007
Video game companies disestablished in 2013
Defunct video game companies of the United Kingdom
Video game development companies
Facebook games
Defunct companies based in London