FarmVille is a popular game played on the social networking site Facebook. The game, created by Zynga, allows players to tend their own farms. Players can grow vegetables and raise farm animals for special coins. Since FarmVille was first launched in June of 2009, the game has developed a devoted following, with an estimated 74 million monthly active members as of the first quarter of 2010.http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/buying-virtual-goods-that-also-do-good/

In February of 2010, Zynga announced that Farmville will be featured on MSN Games. Additional Zynga games may eventually be featured as well.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/04/AR2010020403039.html Other Zynga games include Mafia Wars, Treasure Isle, Petville and Fishville.

Zynga uses what is termed as Farm Cash as a method to monetize Farmville. Farm Cash may be purchased by player using their credit card. Such purchases allow the user faster access to other areas of the game. The transaction follows a similar monetization stream found on another Zynga game, Mafia Wars. There is no requirement that players purchase Fast Cash to play in other open areas of the game.

Farmville occasionally allows users to purchase special "Sweet Seeds" to grow their own crops. These include sweet potato seeds. When a Farmville farmer purchases these special seeds, Zynga donates 50 percent of the proceeds to charities in Haiti. As of October 2009, the charities had received $487,500 in donations.http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/buying-virtual-goods-that-also-do-good/

In December of 2009, FarmVille began posting it's podcasts on the application's official YouTube channel for the purpose of interacting and communicating with its players. FarmVille's community manager hosts the podcasts, which feature news and information on the game, including new releases like gifting items and Mystery Boxes. Technical issues are also addressed. A "sneak peek" is also provided, giving FarmVille users a preview of coming game attractions, features and updates.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kb9j24atG5I

Farmville evolved from a couple of other early Facebook applications with similar premises that emerged at the onset of the Facebook Application Developer platform (which was in May of 2007). {Lil) Green Patch was the first, most primitive incarnation of the farming app as we now know it, and this game consisted of little more than players sending each other plants and shopping for items. Then came Slashkey’s Farm Town, which boasted superior graphics and also incorporated actions such as planting and harvesting. When Farmville came out in 2009, the gameplay was very similar to Farm Town. However, gameplay was more streamlined and the concept of money was introduced. Zynga advertised Farmville heavily to existing Zynga game players, which helped launch it to success.http://www.allfacebook.com/farmville-history-2010-01