The VIP Program began on/around April 4, 2012.
Prior to the release of the VIP program Zynga posted the following VIP introduction on the Official Mafia Wars Blog;
Hello Mobsters,
The Mafia Wars team is constantly working on introducing new features in the game as well fixing existing performance issues that have been reported by the community to enhance the overall game-play experience. The VIP program is one such initiative that we are considering over the next few months. Some of you may have already seen the pop-up messages with the details about this program. However, at the moment, this program is not available, and you will not be charged for clicking on the confirmation messages. If & when the program is rolled out, you are not obligated to enroll in it, but you will have priority enrollment at that time.
We have also taken serious note of certain performance issues due to violation of Terms of Service, whether reported by the community or otherwise. While we work on introducing new features like the VIP program, we will always prioritize working on fixing performance issues that affect game-play. Please stay tuned for further announcements in this regard.
We would like to reiterate that we are constantly listening to you & working on improving the game.
Thank you.
The Mafia Wars Team
Since then there have been approximately 12 loot refreshes that are exclusive to VIP members with another loot refresh expected to occur within a week or so. Upon the next loot refresh those players who bought into the VIP program from the beginning should receive their Ruby Benefits.
Upon the beginning of April the VIP Program will be in its 13th month. The VIP players will have 6 months remaining until the VIP Programs maturity which occurs at the 19 month mark.
Many things that we feared about Mafia Wars since the inception of the VIP Program have played out.
During March and early April of 2012 the DAU (Daily Active Users) ranged from 440,000 to 530,000 (give or take).
By February 20th, 2013, the DAU had dropped as low as 232,302, possibly lower.
The stats shown above are provided by AppData.com. They aren’t exactly completely trustworthy, but they are considered the standard tool in which many apps and developers compare themselves to other apps and developers.
The 261,025 Daily Users of Mafia Wars (shown in the above image) might be the highest the DAU of Mafia Wars has been in all of 2013 thus far.
In either case the Mafia Wars DAU is estimated at just over half of what it was a year ago.
With that stated, and as we’ve stated before (Potential Problems With The VIP Program), I think it’s safe to say that the VIP Program has not been the saving grace of Mafia Wars.
The proof of my comments can be found within the game itself.
There have been more and more sales events or popups asking you to buy something, like this one;
As you can see above, many of these sales have been offered at steep discounts. Typically, this could be considered a clear sign of trouble.
The gameplay hasn’t been any better either. On the Mafia Wars Support Page Zynga acknowledged that players have been having troubles getting their ices.
UPDATE: Experiencing difficulties in getting ices?
Tue Mar 26 08:52:56 EDT 2013
Recently we received reports from some of our players about their difficulty in getting Ices while Fighting.
We have now fixed this issue and you should be able to Ice your opponents normally.
In case you are still experiencing this issue, please use the below form to submit your feedback directly to our team:
Then with today’s Facebook catastrophe (Facebook And The Missing Game Feed Posts – which appears to be fixed finally) the situation for Zynga and Mafia Wars may be aggravated further.
Too many players struggle to achieve half of what is being implemented into the game as it is now. Some other players are simply getting tired of the high pressure sales tactics of Zynga.
I worry about what the DAU will be in 6 months when the original VIP members begin their Titanium Benefits and they begin getting early access to events and features while the rest continue to struggle. Will Mafia Wars even survive that long?
Many players proclaim that Mafia Wars generates much of Zynga’s revenue and, therefore, will be around a while. I disagree. It is my belief that Mafia Wars may, at best, generate about the 8th or 9th most revenue of all Zynga’s games.
Mafia Wars is more like the ugly duckling of Zynga’s games. It has long been since shipped to India. It is rarely mentioned in any ad campaign (except charity events). It is not even hosted among all Zynga’s other games on https://zynga.com/.
It’s only a matter of time until Mafia Wars finds it’s way to Al Capone’s vault.
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