FarmVille — yes, that FarmVille — is buying the farm at the end of 2020 – CNET [CNET]

It won’t be a happy New Year’s Eve for FarmVille players. FarmVille, one of the original addictive Facebook games, is shutting down on Dec. 31, maker Zynga said Monday. 

“Following an incredible 11 years since its initial launch back in 2009, we are officially announcing the closure of the original FarmVille game on Facebook,” the statement read in part. “As previously stated, Adobe will stop distributing and updating Flash Player for all web browsers, and Facebook will stop supporting Flash games on the platform completely after December 31st, 2020.”

FarmVille allows players to cultivate colorful cartoonish farms by plowing, planting and harvesting crops and trees, and caring for cows and chickens. Between August 2009 and December 2010, it was the top game played by daily active users on Facebook. In 2011, the game even partnered with singer Lady Gaga, creating a farm inspired by her and featuring music from her Born This Way album. 

At its peak, 30 million people played the game daily, The Verge reports. And the game made its way into pop culture and memes. One popular tweet made the rounds when Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg testified before Congress in 2018, imagining an octogenarian senator asking about his FarmVille pigs.

Players can make in-app purchases until Nov. 17 but must use any remaining credits by Dec. 31.

And if you really want to keep on fake farming, there are other options. The company will continue to operate FarmVille 2: Tropic Escape and FarmVille 2: Country Escape, and says players can look forward to the upcoming worldwide launch of FarmVille 3 for mobile.