Tag: "facebook games"
Zynga goes on record about new iOS game by filing Forestville trademark
I first broke the news last week about Zynga developing a new “Ville” game after several Forestville domains were privately registered through MarkMonitor, an internet brand protection company Zynga regularly uses.
While I had nothing more to work on than new domain registrations, an anonymous reader sent me a tip that a Facebook page was online, further solidifying my belief that a game was in the works and near launch day.
Shortly after my story ran, accompanied by screen shots and a web address, the page was taken offline.
Zynga, even with all the proof, made no announcement despite Games.com, AllFacebook, and other sites covering my story, so there was still some lingering doubt about the game.
Though Zynga does not officially comment on speculation or rumor, this week it has officially gone on record indirectly, by filing a trademark application (Serial Number: 85487695) for “Forestville” with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Here’s a look at the trademark filing.
Expect to see a press release from the social gaming giant on “Forestville” soon.
Small preview of unannounced iOS game by Zynga called Forestville
Over the weekend, I wrote about Zynga registering several new domain names for a possible up-and-coming game called Forestville, which the company has not yet announced.
Today, an anonymous reader has tipped me to the fact there is a Facebook page that has been online almost a week, which offers more clues about the game.
The page appears to be legit.
A description of the game published on Facebook reads: “Help Daisy the fox and her furry friends build a fabulous forest habitat! Establish farms and fishing spots for food, decorate with natural wonders, and expand your forest to unlock new species. Play ForestVille from Zynga and create the forest of your dreams!”
While there is no game yet available to download and play, there is a photo album that includes pictures of Daisy the fox.
The web address for the page is: http://www.facebook.com/ForestVille.Zynga
A message on the Wall reads: “Watch your own forest habitat come to life in ForestVille by Zynga! It’s coming soon to your iOS mobile device!”
[Updated on Dec. 6 at 12:40pm EST: It appears the URL no longer resolves to a web page, even if you are signed in to Facebook. I did take a screenshot of the page before it was taken down.]
Discussion: Games.com, AllFacebook, Gamezebo, Piki Geek and Inside Social Games
Zynga has plans to launch Forestville, tipped off by domain name registrations
Zynga recently launched Castleville, but now the social gaming giant appears to have plans to launch a new game called Forestville.
This week Zynga registered several domains with the word Forestville in the name like ForestvillewithFriends.com and ForestvilleZynga.com.
All of the names were registered through the internet brand protection company MarkMonitor that Zynga regularly uses to acquire domain names.
And as I usually point out, though each domain registration is hidden behind MarkMonitor’s WHOIS privacy service ‘DNStinations’, MarkMonitor is in the business of helping Fortune 100 companies protect their brands online. Zynga’s own Zynga.com is registered with MarkMonitor, as are hundreds of its other domains.
So, there’s no doubt whatsoever that Zynga is behind these names.
Interestingly enough, Zynga doesn’t own the prime internet real estate: Forestville.com. The domain is currently home to the Forestville Central School District website out of New York. But that hasn’t stopped Zynga from registering typos of Forestville.com like wwwforestville.com (minus a ‘.’) or forestvile.com (minus an ‘l’).
Zynga did manage to get several country domains like Forestville.de, Forestville.jp and Forestville.co.uk. A message on the home page of Forestville.de reads, “This domain is registered and protected by MarkMonitor”.
Below is a list of many of the names registered earlier this week.
forestvile.com
forestville.de
forestville.jp
forestville.co.uk
forestville2.com
forestvilleandroid.com
forestvilleapp.com
forestvillefacebook.com
forestvillegame.com
forestvillegamecards.com
forestvilleipad.com
forestvilleiphone.com
forestvillelive.com
forestvillemobile.com
forestvilleplus.com
forestvillewithfriends.com
forestvillezynga.com
playforestville.com
wwwforestville.com
At the time of this story going online today at 5am EST, Zynga has not made any announcement about the game. So Forestville becoming a full-fledged game is just speculation until more news emerges from Zynga.
I’ve reached out to the Forestville.com webmaster to see whether they had been contacted about the domain and will update this story if I hear back.
Here’s a look at the WHOIS record for ForestvilleZynga.com.
[Update 3 on Dec. 14, 2011: Zynga finally announced the game on it's blog.]
[Update 2 on Dec. 9, 2011: Zynga filed a trademark application (Serial Number: 85487695) for “Forestville” with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.]
[Update 1 on Dec. 5, 2011 at 4:10pm EST: It's official. There is a Facebook page for Forestville. The game is headed to iOS, but hasn't launched as of yet.]
Discussion: Joystiq, AllFacebook, VG247, Games.com, Shacknews, GameStar and Gamer Zona
Zynga: On the hunt for domain names for its next big Facebook or mobile game
As pointed out by Games.com blogger Joe Osborne, Zynga is looking for ideas on making its next game. The survey, which can be found here, asks respondents “What games would you like to play?”
“We want your input. We’ve got a lot of fun ideas, but we want to know which games you would be most excited to play. Please help us by rating the following game ideas on a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 = I love the idea and 1 = I’m not interested at all. Thank you for your feedback!”
Joe Osborne on Games.com wrote, “The game ideas span Hollywood acting and production to acting as a music mogul. But our favorite from the list is absolutely the idea for a pirates game in which players sail the high seas in search of treasure and–gasp!–romance aboard a massive ship.”
Zynga games and domains
If you know anything about Zynga, you know that the company buys domain names on the aftermarket.
The social gaming giant paid only $400 on Sedo in April 2008 for YoVille.com. But the company also spends thousands, paying $38,225 in June 2010 at Moniker for the domain name CityVille.com. One of the company’s most recent aftermarket purchases for a developed title, was Rewardville.com for $4,500.
The company also looks for bargains, with its latest title Empires & Allies, apparently using a web address that was purchased for around $10 last summer.
On Thursday, the company registered several domains, likely as part of a brand protection strategy. Although hidden by WHOIS privacy the domains were registered through MarkMonitor and include MafiaWarsBrazil.com and Drop7byZynga.com.
This week’s survey gives Zynga and domain enthusiasts a chance to speculate on the next game title.
“MYSTERY VILLE” “MYSTERY WORLD”
While MysteryVille.com and MysteryWorld.com are already taken, Zynga has plenty of options when it comes to thinking up new game titles. The first question in the survey asked readers how they felt about solving mysteries with friends.
“Every crime scene tells a story. Become the world’s most famous detective, travel to exotic locations, solve the toughest mysteries and capture the most notorious villains with the help of your friends.”
“HOLLYWOOD VILLE” “HOLLYWOOD WORLD”
You guessed it, Hollywoodville.com and Hollyworld.com are also taken.
Zynga asked respondents for their thoughts on a game that lets you become a Hollywood VIP.
“Be a star of the silver screen, produce the next blockbuster, run the industry’s top talent agency and more. Fame, fashion and fun await in the city of angels as you and your friends become Hollywood VIPs.”
While Zynga uses other phrases in its game titles, it’s not known for straying to far from its well recognized brands. It’s latest take on hangman for the iOS is called Hanging with Friends, but the company also registered hangmanwithfriends.com back in early May.
There are other teasers in the survey, including one legendary tale of Robin Hood and Maid Marian as you protect the people from the King’s evil henchmen.
Do you own a domain that you think Zynga might want for its next blockbuster game?
Readers: Feel free to share your thoughts on Zynga’s next game based on what you read in the survey.
EmpiresandAllies.com domain starts redirecting to Zynga’s Facebook game
I was thinking Zynga had missed another domain name opportunity with their newest combat strategy game Empires and Allies, but I guess I was wrong.
Shortly after I published my story about the company announcing the launch of the game without the domain, the web address empiresandallies.com started redirecting to its page on Facebook.
Instead of establising a dedicated website like it has with Farmville.com and MafiaWars.com, it looks like the official home page for the game will be on Facebook.
Search Engines
Others are looking to cash in by developing related keyword domains into websites and newsletters that offer tips and updates on the strategy game. Empiresandalliesguide.info and empirealliesguide.com both rank on the first page of Google search engine results for the phrase “Empires & Allies”.
Surprisingly, both domains were registered months ago in November 2010.
The owner of empirealliesguide.com was creating a history guide of sorts according to the first post, but that’s now changed with the launch of Zynga’s game. The owner writes in his latest post, “Empires and Allies from Zynga has finally been released, and I’ve been playing it pretty much non-stop since the minute it came out (only with occasional bathroom breaks). I’ve decided to start a FREE newsletter that will share tips and strategies for the game, as well as updates and notifications of any new guides that are released.”
The webmaster for empiresandalliesguide.info appears to have known about the Zynga game for awhile, but even without any official news put out by Zynga, the webmaster continued to post articles to ensure the site ranked well in the event the game did lauch. It seems to have paid off, as the site ranks in the #1 spot even above the official Facebook page.
Zynga goes after ZyngaGiftcards.com and ZyngaWorld.com domain names
Zynga has filed two domain name complaints concerning zyngagiftcards.com and zyngaworld.com with WIPO, the World Intellectual Property Organization.
The complaints were filed today for ZyngaWorld.com and yesterday for ZyngaGiftcards.com.
Zynga’s Domain Dispute Track Record
Zynga has had no problem winning domain disputes filed using the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, better known as UDRP.
In all previous cases, the domain names were transferred from the respondent back to Zynga. The list of domain names includes zynga-chips.com, zynga.cc, zyngachips.com, zyngapoker.com, buyzyngachips.net, cheapzyngachips.net, chips4zynga.com, yourzyngachips.com, and zyngachips4sell.com.
As TechCrunch reported in March 2010, Zynga rolled out gift cards at a number of major retailers in the U.S. Though Zynga refers to them as “game cards“, they are essentially gift cards which can be used for in-game currency to buy the items you want.
Zyngagiftcards.com is currently registered to Joanna Hewett according to Whois Records, and has been registered since December 2009. Zyngaworld.com is registered to David Cahill of Australia.
Oddly enough, Zynga doesn’t own zyngagamecards.com and hasn’t filed a dispute over the domain as of yet, even though it refers to its “gift cards” as “game cards”.
The company also doesn’t own zyngaecards.com, online ”game cards” that can be purchased and sent to users with a personal message. What’s even stranger, is the domain name isn’t even registered at the time of this story, despite the number of abusive registrations the company regularly encounters. But given Zynga’s success at WIPO, hopefully people will learn some lessons, and avoid these types of registrations.
Though the company will likely win these domain disputes and have the names transferred, they might not be as lucky with the trademark dispute over Blingville, which so far has backfired after Blingville responded with a lawsuit, and thousands have lined up to test and play the soon-to-be released Facebook game.
[Update 1: On March 21, 2011, the WIPO panel ordered the domain name zyngaworld.com transferred to Zynga. The dispute for zyngagiftcards.com was terminated, after the owner agreed to turn over the name to Zynga.]
Threats by Zynga backfire as thousands line up online to play Blingville on Facebook
Recently, it came to light over at TechDirt, a technology news blog, that Zynga sent a cease & desist letter to Blingville LLC, the West Virginia company that runs Blingville, an up and coming Facebook game that is currently in Beta testing.
Zynga’s threats against the company, which resulted in Blingville responding with a lawsuit (which can be read here), appear to have backfired at this point.
While no decision has been made as of yet in the lawsuit filed by Blingville, thousands are lining up to test the game online, partly thanks to the press Blingville has received by dozens of technology blogs and news sites, including domainer blogs The Domains and Domain Gang.
I signed up earlier today to become a Beta tester, and was welcomed by a message stating, “Beta Testing in Progress: Your #20,992 in line to test Blingville.” According to the message, testing will last a couple more weeks as the game is prepared for a full launch on Facebook.
Zynga/Ville Trademark developments
People have their own opinions on what the outcome should be when it comes to Zynga vs Blingville.
Whatever the case, there are more “ville” trademarks not owned by Zynga, than there are trademarks actually owned by the social gaming development company.
In fact, earlier this month, Build-a-Bear applied for trademarks on Bearville.com and Bearville. The company owns and operates Build-a-Bearville online, an extension of the in-store experience it offers to customers.
While Blingville LLC, hasn’t put out too much information, the company does have a subscription-based newsletter that aims to keep fans and supporters connected. The company also registered additional domain names related to its soon-to-be released game, including BlingvilleCash.com, which re-directs to Blingville.com.
The last public statement by the company was posted on the company’s Facebook page and read: “ Blingville would like to sincerely thank all of our loyal fans for their support in our defense against Zynga! Your comments are greatly appreciated!”
Zynga likes to buy unlikely domain names, and social gaming is expected to be a billion-dollar business in 2011
MafiaWars.com, Cityville.com, Rewardville.com, Warstorm.com, YoVille.com: As reported by Leena Rao of TechCrunch, social gaming is expected to be a billion-dollar business this year. And those businesses that are getting into the social gaming market will be looking for domain names.
As they did in 2010 and previous years, social gaming market leader Zynga will likely be looking for more domain names to use for their up-and-coming games.
The company has bought thousands of dollars’ worth of domain names on the aftermarket, including the name for its best performing game on Facebook Cityville.com, which it paid $38,225 for in June 2010 at Moniker. Cityville is expected to top 100 million monthly active users on Facebook at any moment.
Most recently, the company paid $4,500 for the domain name Rewardville.com at Sedo, which is rumored that it will be used for its virtual rewards system. Though Zynga hasn’t publicly confirmed plans for a Rewardville application, the company filed for a trademark in Europe as reported here on Fusible.com.
But Cityville.com and Rewardville.com weren’t the only publicly reported domain name purchases by Zynga on the aftermarket.
Zynga purchased Mafiawars.com in 2009 on Sedo GreatDomains for €23,500.00 (or about $33,100). Mafia Wars has gone on to be one of the top Facebook games, with nearly 3 million daily active users according to the latest Appdata metrics.
The company also owns Warstorm.com. Though Zynga didn’t directly buy the domain name Warstorm.com, it did buy the company Challenge Games that acquired the domain on Sedo in 2008 for $9,450.
But one of the best domain deals for what is now a Zynga-owned game, is that of Yoville.com, which was purchased for a measly $400 on Sedo in April 2008, shortly before Zynga purchased the Facebook game in July.
With the social gaming market looking to make history in 2011, so might sales of domain names that end up as Facebook games. Are you holding a winning lottery ticket?
Elliot’s Blog, Fusible, get credit from AOL’s Games.com for breaking, then confirming Zynga Rewardville story
The bigger technology sites and mainstream blogs often take credit for breaking news stories, even though some of those news stories are on occasion reported by bloggers first.
That’s not the case with a recent breaking story that appeared on Domaining.com yesterday, in which Elliot Silver asked whether Zynga bought the domain name Rewardville.com.
It seems that AOL’s blog over at Games.com is giving credit to Elliot’s Blog and the blog here at Fusible for breaking, then confirming the rumor that Zynga has plans for Rewardville.
After reading Elliot’s story, in which he noted the domain was marked private and re-directed to rewards.zynga.com, I did some research and discovered that in fact, Zynga Inc. had filed for a European trademark back in December 2010 on the word “Rewardville”.
Alexander Armero, the Games.com blogger that wrote the story titled, “RewardVille: Zynga plans a mysterious rewards program”, had this to say:
Hot on the heels of CityVille, Zynga may already be planning another release: RewardVille. Today, Fusible confirmed rumors that Zynga has big plans for this mysterious reward program.
The speculation about RewardVille solidified into fact when it was discovered that Zynga had actually filed a trademark for RewardVille back in mid December. Not only that, but they paid $4,500 for the website: rewardville.com. Would you pay that much for a website you didn’t plan on using? I think we can definitely expect to hear a lot more about RewardVille in the future.
Alexander speculates that Rewardville could be used for a new Zynga Lotto, or maybe a new game entirely. Whatever the case, at the time of this story, Rewardville.com now resolves to a GoDaddy.com parked page.
AOL Games.com
If you’re a fan of Zynga, you should check out the blog over at Games.com. The writers at Games.com do some of the best coverage on Zynga’s social gaming properties, including Cityville.
Cityville.com sold for $38,000 in 2010 and is now Facebook’s most popular game of all-time.
According to AppData, Cityville is expected to top over 100 million monthly active users by the end of this week.
Proof that Zynga has plans for Rewardville: Trademark application filed in Europe
Rumor over on Elliot’s Blog is that Zynga, the popular social game development company, purchased the domain name Rewardville.com, possibly for a rewards program that was announced back in late November in a Zynga Press Release.
Being a big fan of Zynga, I did a little digging on the name Rewardville.
While the domain name, which recently sold through Sedo for $4,500, is privately registered and redirects to rewards.zynga.com as Elliot Silver noted in his story, here’s what I did find out that no other technology site or blog has reported.
Zynga filed for Trademark in Europe for word: Rewardville
In mid-December, Zynga Inc. filed for a European trademark that went unnoticed.
The trademark application can be found here, by typing the term ”rewardville” in the trademark name search field.
Though Zynga’s ultimate plans for Rewardville are not known at this time, chances are it’ll end up being an online resource and directory of rewards programs offered between Zynga and its partners.
