Many companies and families were shocked this week as Zynga announced its plans for the new Farmville. Mark Pincus, owner of Zynga, has called reactions “startling” and “unexpected” saying that the new policy has little impact on the game environment and simply presents a better way for Zynga to finance its company.
This new policy, to be enacted on January 15th, allows users to purchase their very own virtual prostitutes. This new item, says Zynga president Mark Pincus, is intended to allow users to better understand what farm life is really like. “We are not doing this for the money,” reports one Zynga employee, “but to allow our users to increase their gaming experience.”

Many families have begun to withdraw their support for the game and have instead moved to more appropriate games such as My Pet Fish or Mafia Wars saying that virtual prostitutes are unethical and a complete waste of useful time. Many worried parents have begun to look at Zynga in a different light and some have begun to question the motives of the company. These questions have caused a new Facebook group to arise: Parents against Zynga. This group aims to “inform users” of the “unethical and shady software” produced by Zynga. The group, so far, has had mixed results. “People just don’t want to listen to us,” says group founder Jane Smith, worried that her groups three members may not be getting their point across.

Many major companies have begun to step in where the Parents against Zynga have failed. Many companies have stepped up including Apple, Microsoft, Google and MySpace. Tom Anderson, co-creator of MySpace, voiced his opinion in a press conference earlier this week saying, “I have been saying from the start that sites such as Facebook do nothing but encourage the exploitation of their users.” Other notable company founders have stepped up beside Tom and have expressed their dislike of the new Farmville including Steve Jobs who reported that company work was hitting a new high as employees could no longer spend their time on Farmville all day. Steve Job optimistically added, during a short interview earlier this week, that “with the rise in employee efficiency we have been able to increase work on the production of the IPhone White and plan on releasing it within a few days from now.”