Mafia Wars
Encyclopedia
Mafia Wars is a multiplayer
Social network game
created by Zynga
.
In Mafia Wars the gamers play as gangsters building their own mafia. The players fight other players online and complete tasks to gain rewards and strength in the game. The game is a freemium
game, meaning it is free to play normally but players have the option of purchasing premium content. As of July 2011, the game had 8 million monthly active users.
Mafia Wars was the 2009 Webby Award
People's Voice Winner in the Games category. Mafia Wars is available on several social networking sites and on the iPhone
and Android phones.
A sequel, Mafia Wars 2, was released in October 2011.
, Facebook
, as an iPhone App and as a Google Chrome
app.
Mafia Wars 2 is available on Facebook
and Google+
.
On Facebook, as of August 2010, Mafia Wars had up to 45.5 million monthly accounts created. As of April, 2011, Appdata.com reports that Mafia Wars players have shrunk down to 10.7 million monthly active accounts, with approximately 1.7 million daily active users. According to this same source, monthly active accounts dropped to 6.7 million by August 3, 2011; and to 5.7 million by September 2, 2011. Daily active users was at 1.2 million by August 3, 2011; dropping further to 1 million by September 2, 2011.
with the option for players to travel between New York
(or Manhattan), Las Vegas
(level 18+), Italy
(level 6+), Cuba
(level 35+), Moscow
(level 70+), Bangkok
, and Atlantic City
(intended for mobile browser).
Opening of a new area, Brazil
, was announced in the game on March 9, 2011.
The game revolves around fighting other players and doing jobs to earn cash, items and experience, with the goal of establishing and advancing one's criminal empire. Players create mafias by recruiting other players. In-game generated mafia members can be added to the player's mafia by Social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Friendster and Yahoo! allow players to recruit from friends to build their mafia and fight against other players. Players can also improve their stats by visiting the Marketplace (i.e., making a micropayment
).
Gameplay is limited by 3 timers: players have limited energy (for doing jobs), and health and stamina meters (for fighting other players), which slowly recharge over time. With the help of other mafia members that have been recruited, players can fight other players, which may or may not result in the theft of cash, "icing", or "death" of the other player. Fighting is based on the strength of each player and their mafia. When 2 players fight, the stronger one wins and does damage to the weaker one's health meter. Strength of the player and their mafia is calculated with the number and quality of 5 kinds of fighting items: Weapons, Armory, Vehicles, Animals and Henchmen. The items can be bought in different locations, achieved as rewards for doing jobs or fighting, built in special properties, or gifted between players. The game operates on a level up basis. The player earns experience points by completing jobs and fighting. Players who manage to complete special tasks (for example, winning fights against bigger mafias or winning fifteen fights in a row) are labeled as having accomplished an "achievement", resulting in a bonus for the player. As they level up, more jobs and features become available, such as the ability to visit Las Vegas to expand their criminal empire.
. In Mafia Wars, the jobs in each location are divided in tiers. The job tiers in New York have titles which are the ranks in the Italian-American mafia (like Capo, Hitman or Consiglere). The tiers and jobs in New York are unlocked gradually as the player gains levels in the game. Some NY tiers have bonus fights called Boss Fights, which the player can choose to fight, but those fights are not required for mastering. After mastering jobs, the player achieves the tier title which can be added to their name in the gamer's profile. Properties in NY can be bought by all players depending only on how much game cash the player has amassed. The properties in NY generate income for the player or special parts for building fighting items. The currency in NY is dollars.
The Cuba
location was added on June 11, 2009. The players could access Cuba after achieving level 35 in the game. There were 6 job tiers in Cuba
available gradually through levels 35 to 80, with Spanish criminal titles for mastering, such as El Soldado or El Padrino. There were no boss fights. After mastering a job tier the player got a valuable fight item as a reward. 6 properties could be bought by all players and generate income. One Cuban property was called Bribery Ring and generated Corrupt Politicians instead of cash. In different cities of Mafia Wars the whole look of the game, the properties, names and items are stylized to fit the locality (such as "Tobacco field" for income or "Canonazo" as weapons in Cuba
). The currency in Cuba was pesos.
After a significant in-game marketing, Zynga added a new mafia city, Moscow
, on September 24, 2009. Moscow
was accessible to players after level 70. The 6 job tiers had Russian titles for mastering such as Brigadir or Pakhan. At the end of each tier a Russian boss could be fought, giving a valuable item as reward. A new feature was added to the jobs: players had to choose one of the 2 competing Russian mafias: the Thieves in Law Vory or the Russian Mafiya - the player could do jobs for the Vory or for the Mafiya. Once chosen side, the player would get slightly different rewards and titles. The 5 Moscow properties generated only cash, not items. The currency in Moscow
was rubles.
On January 20, 2010, Bangkok
Beta was released with some players being granted access to it, but some not. This was to prevent too many people from going to Bangkok
which may cause the system to crash. Bangkok
has since been released to all players who have collected 3 Asian items by doing certain jobs in New York. Collecting the items allowed a "Thai passport" being made for the player. Like in Moscow, in Bangkok players could choose between doing jobs for two mafias: the Chinese Triad or the Japanese Yakuza
. The job tier titles in Bangkok were English like Pirate or Commandant. The currency was Thai Baht.
Las Vegas
, came out June 23, 2010, as a beta, and July 21, 2010, out of beta. Las Vegas is accessible to all players after reaching level 17 in the game. Earlier,the job tiers in Vegas are 5 local districts such as North Las Vegas,Paradise City,Lower Strip,Shogun Casino and Mojave Desert.The Upper Strip jobs are released after 30,000,000 clicks has been achieved on a special job.2 more job tiers,Area 51 and Hoover Dam are released later. The properties can be bought only after mastering a certain Property job in each district. To unlock a job tier, the player must master all jobs in a previous tier and fight the tier boss in the end of each tier. After killing the boss, the player receives a valuable fight item with the boss name, like Teresa Trieste's gun. The boss item can be mastered by redoing the whole tier. Unlike other locations, there is no bank for the player in Vegas, so the player must build their own vault to keep their money safe from other players. The currency in Vegas is poker chips.
In October 2010 Mafia Wars released Italy
with 5 playable regions as tiers, with 3 more regions being released later. Players can access Italy
from level 6. The regions are Italian cities with their Italian names, like Venezia or Napoli. Rome
occurs twice as a tier region - the first tier is called Roma and the 8th tier is called Eternal City. The tier titles are connected to the city, like Palermitano Poco. The gameplay is just like in Las Vegas - properties can only be bought after mastering Property jobs and job tiers are only unlocked after fighting a previous tier boss, with a masterable boss item as reward. Like in Las Vegas, all the Italian properties are painted on one clickable picture. The Port property in Italy generates items as well as cash. The currency in Italy is lira.
In March 2011, two locations were removed from Mafia Wars: Cuba
and Moscow
.
On March 3, 2011, Cuba became unavailable to players for "the foreseeable future." The shutting down was announced in the game with a special goodbye mission for the players, called "Cuba in Crisis". Moscow was closed down on March 10, 2011 with the last player mission called "Massacre in Moscow". Removing of Bangkok has been announced in game on March 10, 2011, with the last mission called "Battle in Bangkok". The Bangkok area was scheduled to be shut down on March 18, 2011, but on March 16, Zynga announced that they will not immediately shut down Bangkok due to the fact that many players are not finished with the area yet.
Bangkok was closed down on August 3, 2011 with the last player mission called "Betrayal in Bangkok".
The introduction of a new area, Brazil
, has started in the game from March 9, 2011. This region has five playable cities at the moment, namely Rio de Janeiro
:Centro, Belem
, Manaus
, Sao Paolo:Heliopolis
and Recife
. Three more tiers were introduced in June of the same year, completing Brazil. The new tiers are named Rio de Janeiro
:Rocinha
, Rio de Janeiro
:Copacabana
and Sao Paolo:Taubate Prison
.Early on August,it released a secret district called Smuggler's Haven for a week.After that,in early of September,it released another secret district called El Dorado for a same duration.
Then, in the end of August, Cuba was reopened for 2 weeks with the Ruby mastery also introduced. After that,Cuba is locked again. Its mobile version, Atlantic City also closed in the end of August.It is announced that Chicago
will be released soon. Three districts have been confirmed so far.
In 2010, the locations Paris
, London
, South Africa
, Mumbai
and Dublin were introduced as challenge missions for a limited time. Then, in 2011,Staten Island also introduced as a challenge missions for a limited time.
In October 2009 Rackets was added to New York and replaced the old properties method. New players had the new version while older ones retained properties. In spring 2010, New York rackets were abolished and properties relaunched. Four non-cash generating properties, the Weapons Depot, Armory, Chop Shop and Private Zoo were subsequently added. At the same time, businesses in Bangkok, Cuba and Moscow were replaced by properties. Properties across all cities can now be looted by opposing players.
, sued Zynga over their launch of Mafia Wars, accusing Zynga of copyright infringement
. Zynga made some changes to Mafia Wars so it did not resemble Mob Wars as closely, but Mob Wars creator David Maestri moved forward with his lawsuit. In September 2009, Maestri and Zynga settled the case for about $7–9 million, less than the $10 million Maestri had originally demanded.
In August 2010, Digital Chocolate
sued Zynga over allegations that Zynga falsely claimed it had coined the "Mafia Wars" trademark. Digital Chocolate had previously created a cell-phone game by the same name. According to TGDaily, Zynga agreed to stop using the "Mafia Wars" trademark but failed to follow through.
Zynga issued a special item for three of its games, including the Haitian Drum in Mafia Wars. The proceeds of the sale of these three items went to the Haiti Relief Fund and exceeded $1.2 million. Zynga also released some items in the marketplace after the hurricane Irene
.
Massively multiplayer online game
A massively multiplayer online game is a multiplayer video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously. By necessity, they are played on the Internet, and usually feature at least one persistent world. They are, however, not necessarily games played on...
Social network game
Social network game
A social network game is a type of online game that is played through social networks, and typically features multiplayer and asynchronous gameplay mechanics. Social network games are most often implemented as browser games, but can also be implemented on other platforms such as mobile devices...
created by Zynga
Zynga
Zynga is a social network game developer located in San Francisco, United States. The company develops browser-based games that work both stand-alone and as application widgets on social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace....
.
In Mafia Wars the gamers play as gangsters building their own mafia. The players fight other players online and complete tasks to gain rewards and strength in the game. The game is a freemium
Freemium
Freemium is a business model that works by offering a product or service free of charge while charging a premium for advanced features, functionality, or related products and services...
game, meaning it is free to play normally but players have the option of purchasing premium content. As of July 2011, the game had 8 million monthly active users.
Mafia Wars was the 2009 Webby Award
Webby Awards
A Webby Award is an international award presented annually by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences for excellence on the Internet with categories in websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile....
People's Voice Winner in the Games category. Mafia Wars is available on several social networking sites and on the iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
and Android phones.
A sequel, Mafia Wars 2, was released in October 2011.
Platforms
Mafia Wars is available on Yahoo, MySpaceMySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
, as an iPhone App and as a Google Chrome
Chrome Web Store
The Chrome Web Store is an online store from Google. It was announced at the Google I/O conference on May 19, 2010 by Vic Gundotra and released on December 6, 2010...
app.
Mafia Wars 2 is available on Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
and Google+
Google+
Google+ is a social networking and identity service, operated by Google Inc.The service was launched on June 28, 2011, in an invite-only "field testing" phase. The following day, existing users were allowed to invite friends who were over 18 years of age to the service to create their own accounts....
.
On Facebook, as of August 2010, Mafia Wars had up to 45.5 million monthly accounts created. As of April, 2011, Appdata.com reports that Mafia Wars players have shrunk down to 10.7 million monthly active accounts, with approximately 1.7 million daily active users. According to this same source, monthly active accounts dropped to 6.7 million by August 3, 2011; and to 5.7 million by September 2, 2011. Daily active users was at 1.2 million by August 3, 2011; dropping further to 1 million by September 2, 2011.
Gameplay
Mafia Wars is set in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
with the option for players to travel between New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
(or Manhattan), Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
(level 18+), Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
(level 6+), Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
(level 35+), Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
(level 70+), Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
, and Atlantic City
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, and a nationally renowned resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. The city also served as the inspiration for the American version of the board game Monopoly. Atlantic City is located on Absecon Island on the coast...
(intended for mobile browser).
Opening of a new area, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, was announced in the game on March 9, 2011.
The game revolves around fighting other players and doing jobs to earn cash, items and experience, with the goal of establishing and advancing one's criminal empire. Players create mafias by recruiting other players. In-game generated mafia members can be added to the player's mafia by Social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Friendster and Yahoo! allow players to recruit from friends to build their mafia and fight against other players. Players can also improve their stats by visiting the Marketplace (i.e., making a micropayment
Micropayment
A micropayment is a financial transaction involving a very small sum of money and usually one that occurs online. PayPal defines a micropayment as a transaction of less than 12 USD while Visa prefers transactions under 20 Australian dollars, and though micropayments were originally envisioned to...
).
Gameplay is limited by 3 timers: players have limited energy (for doing jobs), and health and stamina meters (for fighting other players), which slowly recharge over time. With the help of other mafia members that have been recruited, players can fight other players, which may or may not result in the theft of cash, "icing", or "death" of the other player. Fighting is based on the strength of each player and their mafia. When 2 players fight, the stronger one wins and does damage to the weaker one's health meter. Strength of the player and their mafia is calculated with the number and quality of 5 kinds of fighting items: Weapons, Armory, Vehicles, Animals and Henchmen. The items can be bought in different locations, achieved as rewards for doing jobs or fighting, built in special properties, or gifted between players. The game operates on a level up basis. The player earns experience points by completing jobs and fighting. Players who manage to complete special tasks (for example, winning fights against bigger mafias or winning fifteen fights in a row) are labeled as having accomplished an "achievement", resulting in a bonus for the player. As they level up, more jobs and features become available, such as the ability to visit Las Vegas to expand their criminal empire.
The cities of the game
Mafia Wars was released to the public in April 2008 with the first playable in-game city called New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. In Mafia Wars, the jobs in each location are divided in tiers. The job tiers in New York have titles which are the ranks in the Italian-American mafia (like Capo, Hitman or Consiglere). The tiers and jobs in New York are unlocked gradually as the player gains levels in the game. Some NY tiers have bonus fights called Boss Fights, which the player can choose to fight, but those fights are not required for mastering. After mastering jobs, the player achieves the tier title which can be added to their name in the gamer's profile. Properties in NY can be bought by all players depending only on how much game cash the player has amassed. The properties in NY generate income for the player or special parts for building fighting items. The currency in NY is dollars.
The Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
location was added on June 11, 2009. The players could access Cuba after achieving level 35 in the game. There were 6 job tiers in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
available gradually through levels 35 to 80, with Spanish criminal titles for mastering, such as El Soldado or El Padrino. There were no boss fights. After mastering a job tier the player got a valuable fight item as a reward. 6 properties could be bought by all players and generate income. One Cuban property was called Bribery Ring and generated Corrupt Politicians instead of cash. In different cities of Mafia Wars the whole look of the game, the properties, names and items are stylized to fit the locality (such as "Tobacco field" for income or "Canonazo" as weapons in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
). The currency in Cuba was pesos.
After a significant in-game marketing, Zynga added a new mafia city, Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, on September 24, 2009. Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
was accessible to players after level 70. The 6 job tiers had Russian titles for mastering such as Brigadir or Pakhan. At the end of each tier a Russian boss could be fought, giving a valuable item as reward. A new feature was added to the jobs: players had to choose one of the 2 competing Russian mafias: the Thieves in Law Vory or the Russian Mafiya - the player could do jobs for the Vory or for the Mafiya. Once chosen side, the player would get slightly different rewards and titles. The 5 Moscow properties generated only cash, not items. The currency in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
was rubles.
On January 20, 2010, Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
Beta was released with some players being granted access to it, but some not. This was to prevent too many people from going to Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
which may cause the system to crash. Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
has since been released to all players who have collected 3 Asian items by doing certain jobs in New York. Collecting the items allowed a "Thai passport" being made for the player. Like in Moscow, in Bangkok players could choose between doing jobs for two mafias: the Chinese Triad or the Japanese Yakuza
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...
. The job tier titles in Bangkok were English like Pirate or Commandant. The currency was Thai Baht.
Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, came out June 23, 2010, as a beta, and July 21, 2010, out of beta. Las Vegas is accessible to all players after reaching level 17 in the game. Earlier,the job tiers in Vegas are 5 local districts such as North Las Vegas,Paradise City,Lower Strip,Shogun Casino and Mojave Desert.The Upper Strip jobs are released after 30,000,000 clicks has been achieved on a special job.2 more job tiers,Area 51 and Hoover Dam are released later. The properties can be bought only after mastering a certain Property job in each district. To unlock a job tier, the player must master all jobs in a previous tier and fight the tier boss in the end of each tier. After killing the boss, the player receives a valuable fight item with the boss name, like Teresa Trieste's gun. The boss item can be mastered by redoing the whole tier. Unlike other locations, there is no bank for the player in Vegas, so the player must build their own vault to keep their money safe from other players. The currency in Vegas is poker chips.
In October 2010 Mafia Wars released Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
with 5 playable regions as tiers, with 3 more regions being released later. Players can access Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
from level 6. The regions are Italian cities with their Italian names, like Venezia or Napoli. Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
occurs twice as a tier region - the first tier is called Roma and the 8th tier is called Eternal City. The tier titles are connected to the city, like Palermitano Poco. The gameplay is just like in Las Vegas - properties can only be bought after mastering Property jobs and job tiers are only unlocked after fighting a previous tier boss, with a masterable boss item as reward. Like in Las Vegas, all the Italian properties are painted on one clickable picture. The Port property in Italy generates items as well as cash. The currency in Italy is lira.
In March 2011, two locations were removed from Mafia Wars: Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
and Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
.
On March 3, 2011, Cuba became unavailable to players for "the foreseeable future." The shutting down was announced in the game with a special goodbye mission for the players, called "Cuba in Crisis". Moscow was closed down on March 10, 2011 with the last player mission called "Massacre in Moscow". Removing of Bangkok has been announced in game on March 10, 2011, with the last mission called "Battle in Bangkok". The Bangkok area was scheduled to be shut down on March 18, 2011, but on March 16, Zynga announced that they will not immediately shut down Bangkok due to the fact that many players are not finished with the area yet.
Bangkok was closed down on August 3, 2011 with the last player mission called "Betrayal in Bangkok".
The introduction of a new area, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, has started in the game from March 9, 2011. This region has five playable cities at the moment, namely Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
:Centro, Belem
Belem
Belem or Belém may refer to:* Belém, capital city of the Brazilian state of Pará* Belem , a three-masted barque from France* Belém, Alagoas, a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Alagoas...
, Manaus
Manaus
Manaus is a city in Brazil, the capital of the state of Amazonas. It is situated at the confluence of the Negro and Solimões rivers. It is the most populous city of Amazonas, according to the statistics of Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, and is a popular ecotourist destination....
, Sao Paolo:Heliopolis
Heliopolis
-Placenames:*Heliopolis , the ancient city in Egypt*Heliopolis , a suburb in modern Cairo, Egypt* Heliopolis of Phoenicia, modern Baalbek, Lebanon...
and Recife
Recife
Recife is the fifth-largest metropolitan area in Brazil with 4,136,506 inhabitants, the largest metropolitan area of the North/Northeast Regions, the 5th-largest metropolitan influence area in Brazil, and the capital and largest city of the state of Pernambuco. The population of the city proper...
. Three more tiers were introduced in June of the same year, completing Brazil. The new tiers are named Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
:Rocinha
Rocinha
Rocinha is the largest favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and is located in Rio's South Zone between the districts of São Conrado and Gávea. Rocinha is built on a steep hillside overlooking Rio de Janeiro, and is located about one kilometre from a nearby beach...
, Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
:Copacabana
Copacabana
Copacabana is a borough located in the southern zone of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It's known for its 4 km beach, which is one of the most famous in the world.- History :...
and Sao Paolo:Taubate Prison
Taubaté Prison
Taubaté Prison is a prison in Taubaté in São Paulo, Brazil. It is notorious for containing some of the most violent prisoners, for repeated prison riots, and for being the place where the Primeiro Comando da Capital criminal gang originated.- External links :...
.Early on August,it released a secret district called Smuggler's Haven for a week.After that,in early of September,it released another secret district called El Dorado for a same duration.
Then, in the end of August, Cuba was reopened for 2 weeks with the Ruby mastery also introduced. After that,Cuba is locked again. Its mobile version, Atlantic City also closed in the end of August.It is announced that Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
will be released soon. Three districts have been confirmed so far.
In 2010, the locations Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
and Dublin were introduced as challenge missions for a limited time. Then, in 2011,Staten Island also introduced as a challenge missions for a limited time.
Events
Mafia Wars has special events with missions and awards based around different themes, including the holiday events such as Valentine's Day, Chinese New Year, Easter, the Fourth of July, Christmas and others.Updating and server issues
Mafia Wars parent company, Zynga, has worked to adapt multiple changes within the game, introducing various "beta" features into the game, such as robbing (wherein players can rob each others' property). These features are often removed without warning, and older players have reported that the property and task interface is substantially different between that of newer players and those who have been playing for a time.In October 2009 Rackets was added to New York and replaced the old properties method. New players had the new version while older ones retained properties. In spring 2010, New York rackets were abolished and properties relaunched. Four non-cash generating properties, the Weapons Depot, Armory, Chop Shop and Private Zoo were subsequently added. At the same time, businesses in Bangkok, Cuba and Moscow were replaced by properties. Properties across all cities can now be looted by opposing players.
Lawsuit
The makers of a similar online game, Mob WarsMob Wars
Mob Wars is a multiplayer role-playing game hosted on the social networking site Facebook. It allows players to engage in Mafia-style wars with one another and has become one of the most lucrative Facebook applications and the first to net USD 1M per month in revenue.However, this number has never...
, sued Zynga over their launch of Mafia Wars, accusing Zynga of copyright infringement
Copyright infringement
Copyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.- "Piracy" :...
. Zynga made some changes to Mafia Wars so it did not resemble Mob Wars as closely, but Mob Wars creator David Maestri moved forward with his lawsuit. In September 2009, Maestri and Zynga settled the case for about $7–9 million, less than the $10 million Maestri had originally demanded.
Trademark disputes
Zynga filed its trademark for the stylized version of Mafia Wars with the U.S. Patent & Trademarks Office on July 1, 2009, months after it first launched the Mafia Wars game on the internet through Facebook. The Zynga trademark application for Mafia Wars sought to cover games for computers and wireless devices. David L. Kelejian, however on June 15, 2009, just two weeks prior to the Zynga filing, filed an intent-to-use trademark application for a stylized version of Mafia Wars which covered clothing and apparel. Zynga later began selling Mafia Wars branded clothing through Zazzle. By or before late November 2009, Zynga noticed Kelejian's pending trademark application for Mafia Wars, and filed a trademark opposition proceeding against Kelejian's trademark on December 1, 2009.In August 2010, Digital Chocolate
Digital Chocolate
Digital Chocolate is a video game developer headquartered in San Mateo, California. It was founded in 2003 by Trip Hawkins, the entrepreneur and founder of the video game publishing giant Electronic Arts and founder of The 3DO Company. The company focuses on developing games for mobile phones, iOS,...
sued Zynga over allegations that Zynga falsely claimed it had coined the "Mafia Wars" trademark. Digital Chocolate had previously created a cell-phone game by the same name. According to TGDaily, Zynga agreed to stop using the "Mafia Wars" trademark but failed to follow through.
Advertising
A promotional campaign for Mafia Wars occurred in San Francisco in August 2010. Davis Elen Advertising ran the campaign, which consisted of fake $25,000 bills glued to the sidewalk promoting "Mafia Wars: Las Vegas." Deputy City Attorney Alex Tse called the campaign "illegal and actionable." Davis Elen has taken full responsibility for the promotion.Charity
After the 2010 Haiti earthquake2010 Haiti earthquake
The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake, with an epicentre near the town of Léogâne, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. The earthquake occurred at 16:53 local time on Tuesday, 12 January 2010.By 24 January, at least 52 aftershocks...
Zynga issued a special item for three of its games, including the Haitian Drum in Mafia Wars. The proceeds of the sale of these three items went to the Haiti Relief Fund and exceeded $1.2 million. Zynga also released some items in the marketplace after the hurricane Irene
Hurricane Irene (2011)
Hurricane Irene was a large and powerful Atlantic hurricane that left extensive flood and wind damage along its path through the Caribbean, the United States East Coast and as far north as Atlantic Canada in 2011...
.
Movie & series advertising
- Public Enemies had a loot drop and limited time job to advertise Public Enemies coming to Blu-ray and DVD, players were able to watch video clips from the film and get items such as Purvis' rifle, Dillinger's pistols, Locket of Billie, A public enemies newspaper, a fur coat and prison stripes. (A previously released Wooden Gun was re-released.) Mastering the limited time job would give you Dillinger's sunglasses. Two items went on sale for 25 RP: Dillinger's Overcoat and a stolen police car.
- ScarfaceScarfaceScarface may refer to:*Scarface , a film based on the life of Al Capone and starring Paul Muni**Scareface, by Armitage Trail, the novel the 1932 film was based on...
had a loot sale which players were able to acquire "A deal gone bad" (chainsaw) "Tony Montana's suit" (White with white vest and red shirt), a tiger and "My Little Friend." - Carlito's WayCarlito's WayCarlito's Way is a 1993 crime film directed by Brian De Palma, based on the novels Carlito's Way and After Hours by Judge Edwin Torres. The film adaptation was scripted by David Koepp. It stars Al Pacino, Sean Penn, Penelope Ann Miller, Luis Guzman, John Leguizamo, Jorge Porcel, Joseph Siravo, and...
also made a deal to have items appear in Mafia Wars (35 RP in the Marketplace): "Carlito's Way" (A switchblade), Kleinfeld's boat, Benny Blanco and Carlito's Jacket. - Miami ViceMiami ViceMiami Vice is an American television series produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series starred Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as two Metro-Dade Police Department detectives working undercover in Miami. It ran for five seasons on NBC from 1984–1989...
also had a promotion (35 RP in the Marketplace): Sonny's Suit, Go Fast Boat (a speed boat), Rico's Revenge (a gun) and Miami Vice (a car). - SouthlandSouthland (TV series)Southland is an American drama series created by writer Ann Biderman and produced by Warner Bros. Television. It premiered on NBC on April 9, 2009...
had a small promotion: players were able to send Southlander (a shotgun) to other players. There was also a promotion image that led to the Southland Facebook fan page for a trailer of the next season of Southland starting in January 2011. - The Green HornetThe Green Hornet (2011 film)The Green Hornet is a 2011 American superhero action-comedy film based on the character of the same name that had originated in a 1930s radio program and has appeared in movie serials, a television series, comic books, and other media...
also had a promotion. Objects such as the double-barreled gun, "Kato's Bike" and the "Black Beauty" were available. - The Fast & Furious series had vehicles included, all under fictional names. Vehicles were the Ford Torino (named the Fenix GT) from the fourth film, Brian's Subaru (O'Connor's Euro Car) from the fourth film, Dom's Dodge Charger (named Dom's Supercharger) and Roman's Eclipse Spyder (named Roman's violet Spider).