Is FarmVille the future (of gaming)? Article From MSN

Canadians are among the most FarmVille-obsessed people in the world. What makes this Facebook game so popular?

Sharon is a respected member of her community, but she has a secret. That's why she won't let me use her last name. The Toronto native is director of business affairs for a major corporation and a mother of two, and she — like 74 million other people around the world — plays FarmVille.
FarmVille is a game that is accessed through Facebook. It's incredibly popular, and deceptively simple. Basically, the player owns a virtual farm. On it, he or she can plant crops and raise livestock. These items can be taken to the market and sold for coins, which can then be exchanged for supplies, seeds, livestock, fertilizer and even things such as more land, vehicles and a bigger house.
Developed by San Francisco-based Zynga — which also gave us MafiaWars and countless other Facebook-based games — FarmVille has been a huge success. It's the most popular app on Facebook and has more than twice as many regular users as there are people in Canada. And Canadians are among the most FarmVille-obsessed people in the world — we rank sixth in the world in FarmVille players. In fact, Canadian FarmVille players outnumber real Canadian farmers by at least ten to one.
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And although FarmVille is free to play, Zynga is raking it in with annual revenues of over $100 million and a profitable bottom line. Most of that revenue comes from players — desperate to get supplies and other items they haven't earned yet — who use credit cards or PayPal to buy them. Rumours of a Zynga IPO are rampant, and a Russian gaming firm, Digital Sky Technologies, bought into the company with a $180 million investment last month.
And it's played by an enviable demographic. FarmVille is very popular particularly among 18-35 year-olds and has a 60-40 female-male split, according to Zynga. But they are hardly the only ones playing. Because it's fun in a way that's not violent or controversial, it appeals to all age groups and diverse tastes. "A friend of mine, his 80-year-old parents play FarmVille," said Bill Mooney, Zynga's Montreal-born vice president and manager of FarmVille. "And I guarantee there aren't many 80-year-olds out there playing Halo 3."
Like many adult players, Sharon was introduced to FarmVille by her kids. "My [nine-year-old] daughter wanted to play it, so I let her use my account because I don't want her on Facebook for any other reason," she said. "Then I started doing it with her and I got addicted."