Zynga may have cornered the market on selling corn, lima beans and other farm based produce but there’s one crop you won’t find on Farmville, marijuana and now Ecko|Code is planning to change that fact.
A new game, titled Weeds Social Club launched on Monday in “closed beta” and the game allows users to build a weed growing and selling empire.
The game is based on the hit Showtime TV series Weeds and plans to fully launch in August 2011.
The premise is simple, cultivate and grow enough marijuana to save your home from foreclosure, a premise fans of the Showtime show will understand the moment they begin playing. The game shows players how to grow marijuana, while a time time clock will show growing cycles and selling responsibilities for the players virtual pot.
Along the way players must avoid police, ensure that organized crime agencies don’t end their run, even pay taxes among other responsibilities to showcase a “legitimate” organization to authorities.
Players can also choose to share their gameplay with their Facebook friends or engage in a world wide game in which they interact and complete with other growers around the world.
This isn’t the first TV show to be featured as a Facebook game, Gossip Girl launched a game of their own in January and Starz has since released Spartacus: Gods of the Arena via the social network.
With the game explaining to users how to grow marijuana it will be interesting to see how Facebook reacts to the platform, however with games such as Mafia Wars already allowing Facebook users to create mobs and go on killing sprees I have a feeling Weeds Social Club will be just fine.
I’m most curious to figure out how the company plans to make money from the game, for example will players be able to purchase “virtual marijuana” and if they do make those purchases how will it look to a users “real world” employer who may be friends on their Facebook profiles.
Are you willing to grow virtual marijuana on Facebook? If the game is interactive enough to grab an audience we may soon see “pro-pot” activists taking to the social network.