Mafia Wars
Mafia Wars is a defunct freemium multiplayer social network game created by Zynga. Players assume the roles of gangsters while building their own Mafia-type organization. The players fight and "rob" other players online - completing jobs, missions, and operations to gain rewards and strength in an endless game.
Mafia Wars
Zynga
PC, Mac OS, iPhone, mobile phone, miscellaneous internet-connected device
Mafia Wars won the 2009 Webby Award People's Voice Winner in the Games category.[1]
A sequel, Mafia Wars 2, was released in October 2011 and was shut down on December 30, 2012.[2] On April 5, 2016, it was announced via Zynga's forums that Mafia Wars would close down on June 6, 2016.[3] Players were informed of this via an in-game message. The game was taken offline shortly past midnight PDT on June 7, 2016. The game was relaunched on mobile in April 2017 for selected markets, featuring revamped mechanics. In July 2017, Zynga announced that all future work on the game was cancelled and the game was discontinued.[4]
Platforms[edit]
Mafia Wars was released as an iOS app on April 8, 2009.[6] Mafia Wars was available on Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Yahoo!, and as a Google Chrome app.
On Facebook, Mafia Wars had up to 45.5 million monthly accounts created.[7]
Mafia Wars was renamed Mafia Wars Classic in 2011.
Mafia Wars Classic was shut down in 2012.
Mafia Wars Shakedown[edit]
Mafia Wars Shakedown was launched as a stand-alone game, unconnected from the Facebook game, on November 15, 2011. This was an iOS exclusive.[8]
Mafia Wars Shakedown was shut down on December 30, 2012, and removed from the Apple app store.
Lawsuit[edit]
The makers of a similar online game, Mob Wars, sued Zynga over their launch of Mafia Wars, accusing Zynga of copyright infringement. Zynga made some changes to Mafia Wars so it did not resemble Mob Wars as closely, but Mob Wars creator David Maestri moved forward with his lawsuit.[9] In September 2009, Maestri and Zynga settled the case for about $7–9 million — less than the $10 million that Maestri had originally demanded.[10]
Trademark disputes[edit]
Zynga filed its trademark for the stylized version of Mafia Wars with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on July 1, 2009, months after it first launched the Mafia Wars game on the internet through Facebook.[11] The Zynga trademark application for Mafia Wars sought to cover games for computers and wireless devices. Just two weeks prior to the Zynga filing, on June 15, 2009, David L. Kelejian filed an intent-to-use trademark application for a stylized version of Mafia Wars which covered clothing and apparel.[11] Zynga later began selling Mafia Wars branded clothing through Zazzle.[11] By or before late November 2009, Zynga noticed Kelejian's pending trademark application for Mafia Wars and filed a trademark opposition proceeding against Kelejian's trademark on December 1, 2009.[11]
In August 2010, Digital Chocolate sued Zynga over allegations that Zynga falsely claimed it had coined the Mafia Wars trademark. Digital Chocolate had previously created a cell-phone game by the same name. According to TGDaily, Zynga agreed to stop using the "Mafia Wars" trademark but failed to follow through until 2016.[12]
Advertising[edit]
A promotional campaign for Mafia Wars occurred in San Francisco in August 2010. Davis Elen Advertising ran the campaign, which consisted of fake $25,000 bills glued to the sidewalk promoting "Mafia Wars: Las Vegas". Deputy City Attorney Alex Tse called the campaign "illegal and actionable".[13] Davis Elen has taken full responsibility for the promotion,[14] and agreed to pay a settlement of $45,000 to the city.[15]
Charity[edit]
After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Zynga issued a special item for three of its games, including the Haitian Drum in Mafia Wars. The proceeds of the sale of these three items went to the Haiti Relief Fund, which exceeded $1.2 million.[16] Zynga also released some items in the marketplace after Hurricane Irene.