Friends For Sale
Developer(s)Serious Business (Until February 2010)
Zynga
Platform(s)Facebook Platform
ReleaseNovember 2007[1]
Genre(s)Business simulation game
Mode(s)Multiplayer

Friends for Sale was a massively multiplayer online business simulation game originally developed by Serious Business, available as an application on the social networking website Facebook. The game allowed players to buy and sell virtual pets representing other players.[1] Since its launching by November 2007, Friends for Sale soared into popularity by June 2008, becoming one of the top ten Facebook applications with around 700,000 daily users[2] and activity peaked at around 6.5 million monthly users on 2 November 2009[3] until Zynga acquired Serious Business on 11 February 2010.[4] Shortly after its acquisition by Zynga, Friends for Sale underwent another transition as it was subsequently sold to Lika Games Inc on September 27, 2010. Due to financial constraints and challenges, Lika Games has made the difficult decision to discontinue the operation of Friends For Sale. Despite dedicated efforts over the past eleven months to enhance game functionality and streamline the interface, the game struggled to attract sufficient new players. Given these circumstances and uncertainties about resolving these issues in the near future, the decision has been made to cease operation on September 3, 2011.[citation needed]

Gameplay

Players begin the game receiving some amount of virtual currency, as well as the in-game value of the pet that represents them.[5] A list of the player's Facebook friends appears, along with their selling price. They could be bought; given nicknames and gifts; put to work with, locked from, sold to and used to poke other players.[5][6][7][8]

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References

  1. ^ a b Takahashi, Dean (30 November 2009). "Serious Business looks for life beyond Friends For Sale!". VentureBeat. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
  2. ^ Smith, Justin (24 June 2008). "Inside Social Games' Top 20 Social Games for June 24, 2008". Inside Social Games. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
  3. ^ Mack, Christopher (2 November 2009). "Top 25 Facebook Games for November 2, 2009". Inside Social Games. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
  4. ^ Becker, Nathan (11 February 2010). "Zynga Gets Serious". Digits. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
  5. ^ a b Eldon, Eric (2 November 2009). "Friends For Sale creators raise financing, not for sale". Venture Beat. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
  6. ^ Holt, Chris (26 May 2008). "Friends For Sale is a Social Stock Market". Inside Social Games. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
  7. ^ Vidyarthi, Neil (24 March 2010). "Game Review: Friends for Sale Is Still The Most Social Game". Social times. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
  8. ^ van Grove, Jennifer (4 February 2009). "Social Media Break: 5 Facebook Apps to Combat Workday Blues". Mashable. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
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