CastleVille proves to be Zynga’s new moneymaker

Why change a formula if it has proven to be both appealing and (most importantly) profitable? That appears to be Zynga’s thinking, given the most recent of its social games, CastleVille.

And it only took a few days to confirm the company’s approach on gaming, since the newest addition to the Ville series has become the fastest growing title of the entire franchise, with an astonishing 5 million active users in less than a week after its release.

Constructing digital buildings once again

But how do you explain such a successful start for a title that include little original content? Chances are that this game represents the perfection of the formula since CastleVille is made up from key elements from the other Ville games to date.

First, your goal is similar to the one in CityVille, since you have to build the castle of your dreams in a medieval setting. Second, you have numerous elements and objects to customize all of your kingdom, just like in FarmVille. And finally, the most important component of them all: the inclusion of the FrontierVille narrative, which incorporates richer structures to the whole story.

Besides, Zynga worked on the graphic aspect as well, providing CastleVille with more lively and detailed animations than any of its previous titles. This might be the key to understanding the game s success, since not even its theme (a medieval world filled with peasants, princesses and quests) shows any signs of originality.

So, more options comes to expand the basic Ville gameplay, and users appear to love it. Of course, there is another aspect of this phenomenon, and that is Zynga s fame of smash hits manufacturers. Each of its releases can count with the audience s attention, regardless of its quality, and that was achieved thanks to multiple games that hit the target in the past.

A breath of fresh air

That is what CastleVille represents for Zynga after three quarters in which the company s profits were down. Of course, those 3Q include the first half of 2011, an important period of time in which the company didn t release any title.

But, obviously, the company can afford a few downhill quarters provided that they are working on a new title with CastleVille features: successful and already-known game mechanics, flashy graphics and a wider (just a little, mind you) array of options, alternatives that will surely captivate the casual gaming mentality that roam the social networks.