It’s Like a Million Real-World Farmers Cried Out in Terror… and Were Suddenly Silenced

First off, there really is no end to the tide of Internet startups with names that sound like cartoon sound effects, is there? Just sayin’.

Anyway, Zynga (see?) is laughing all the way to the bank; according to equity analysts, the company would be worth $5,000,000,000 if it went public. Yes. That’s five billion dollars.

 Jeezus.

If you’re not familiar with the name, Zynga is to blame for the Facebook plagues games timewasters Farmville and Mafia Wars.

With over 237 million active users a month, each one shamefully spending real-world money on fake-world goods, Zynga is beating even Electronic Arts in the social gaming arena, and is slated to rake in ONE BILLION DOLLARS this coming year from innocent digital farmers. And that’s no bull.

However, these same analysts warn that Zynga could be hit hard if Farmville’s (or Facebook’s) popularity begins to decline – and in the social media scene, it’s all too easy to be just a flash in the pan.

Something tells me tiny virtual farms won’t be the rage for much longer. Remember Tamagochis? No? Exactly.

[Via GigaOM]