While "millions" played each game initially, user activity has fallen and it is starting to look like social games are dying. Players with unspent in-game currency balances are encouraged to spend the remainder of their money before the games go offline.
EA will make a "special offer" available to players of the affected titles in the form of an unspecified PopCap game. Further details on this promotion will be made available in-game "soon," EA said. EA will not kill off all its social games Bejeweled Blitz, Solitaire Blitz, and Plants vs. Zombies Adventures will continue.
The Sims Social was famous for a spat between EA and social game outfit Zynga. EA claimed that Zynga's The Ville was a Sims Social clone, alleging that it represents an act of copyright infringement. The case was settled with Zynga “pleased with the result”.
We would have thought that Zynga would be pleased with this announcement too.
