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In Zynga’s “PetVille,” the animals were fake — but the grief is real.
When the social-gaming company recently closed down “PetVille” and 10 other poor-performing titles as part of a cost-cutting move, there was an unintended consequence — thousands of virtual pet owners were heartbroken.
“It was the highlight of my day to come home, see Toby Catwings, feed her, dress her,” said Indrani Sircar, a longtime “PetVille” player, of her virtual feline companion.
“The character sort of grew with me,” Sircar told The Post in an interview last week.
The 44-year-old San Mateo, Calif., resident said Toby was 3 years old.
“PetVille” allowed players like Sircar to create animals that played around a virtual world.
It might not seem like a big deal to those who never loved a virtual pet, but for those who did, the loss approached the grief of losing a real dog or cat.
Hundreds of fans have taken to chat rooms, websites and blogs to mourn the deaths of their virtual pets.
Just like someone with a real pet, Sircar cared for Toby and even spent up to $300 on virtual amenities so the tabby could live a privileged virtual life in a 12-room mansion, as well as in a cabin or “love nest,” as Sircar described it.
On Halloween, Toby would get dressed up.
“Toby would travel or just stay in the backyard, and her neighbors stopped by to interact with her,” Sircar noted, quickly adding that she also volunteers in the real world to help cats and dogs find homes.
In fact, Toby Catwings was modeled after a real cat that Sircar saved, also named Toby.
The move by San Francisco-based Zynga came after it admitted some expensive missteps, including writing down almost $100 million after its purchase of OMGPOP, the maker of “Draw Something.”
Zynga shares are down more than 70 percent in the last year.
Even before Zynga announced it would close the game, Sircar noticed that the joy in “PetVille” was diminishing.
She sensed the company was withholding resources to develop a richer experience — Sircar was stuck at level 109 and found there was no higher she could go.
“My poor Toby, who had a whole lot of virtual neighbors, basically was playing [by] herself because there was no one to visit, no one to play with,” she said.
Sircar is one of thousands of commenters who took to “PetVille’s” Facebook page to vent. Some said their children had grown attached to the virtual animals and would be devastated, some said the game helped them cope with difficult circumstances.
Before Zynga cut off access to the game for good, Sircar took snapshots of Toby and the cat’s fantasy land. She has the photos which she looks at every day on her iPhone.
“There is grief, but I don’t talk about it because it sounds silly,” Sircar said.