One of Zynga"s first Facebook games is getting a full sequel later in October. The game publisher announced plans this week to launch Mafia Wars 2 via both a Facebook page as well as a non-gameplay trailer (shown below). The company has yet to reveal many specific details on the sequel but promises more info on Mafia Wars 2 soon. Gamasutra does report that Mafia Wars 2 will be a 3D game rather than the 2D game experience that the orginal game has.
Zynga first launched the original Mafia Wars back in 2008 and it remains one of the company"s more adult themed Facebook game titles. At one time AppData reports that the game had as many as 28 million monthly players. Today Mafia Wars gets about 870,000 daily players. In addition to Facebook, the game can also be played on iOS and Android based devices. It allows gamers to create their own organized crime group and battle other players online. It"s likely that Mafia Wars 2 will keep the basic gameplay but with lots of new additions and improvements.
Zynga has been busy launching a number of new games over the past year, many of which have achieved large player populations. In June the publisher launched Empires and Allies, a strategy-themed game that now has over 36 million players. In September the company launched another game, Adventure World, that already has over 9 million registered players. While Zynga still has many of the most popular Facebook games, Electronic Arts" recently launched The Sims Social has put a dent in Zynga"s popularity with over 50 million players since its launch in August.