Summary

Zynga put together a new product development division to create a mobile massively multiplayer online game based on their defunct Mafia Wars IP. 

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Project Goal

To launch Mafia Wars worldwide.

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The Game

Mafia Wars lets players fight for control over real-world, contemporary cities, by joining a global network of criminals and using high stakes combat and conspiracy to gain power over millions of players. This narrative comes to life, embedding the player through a series of highly visual interactive features.

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Tactic

The team was made of cross-functional pods. Each handling building different features, then merging that work into a hi-def build. The pods worked in a 2-week Sprint/Agile environment allowing for rapid deployment and testing, resulting in real player feedback and insights making space to adjust the gameplay and design accordingly.

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Result

Mafia Wars soft-launched for several months of Live Development in Canada and Indonesia on Android and iOS. It had mixed reviews, and retention was poor. Zynga, as a company, was also pivoting its game development strategy, resulting in a cancelation of the game.