FarmVille grooms English Countryside

FarmVille players who reach level 20 in the social game will now be tasked with working the land in rural England, Zynga said today.

Once they have access to the English Countryside, players will head there with a duke concerned that the farms on his land "have fallen into disrepair." Players get new land in the countryside and must build up their crops from scratch.

FarmVille has been an absolute success for Zynga. Currently, the title has 44 million active gamers around the world that play it each month--though that figure has been waning. Last August, Zynga noted that it had over 63 million active users each month.

Aside from FarmVille, Zynga offers other wildly popular social games, including CityVille and Mafia Wars.

According to Zynga, players will find native plants on their new farms, including foxgloves, redcurrants, and King Edward potatoes. The "premium English soil" will help crops grow more quickly than they have in the past.

In addition, Zynga created a "lamb breeding" feature that lets gamers "breed their own rams and ewes to create unique lambs with characteristics from both parents." Shorthorn cows, Shire horses, and Dorking chickens will likewise populate the area.

Like other social games, FarmVille is big business. A report released last year by research firm eMarketer found that social game revenue totaled more than $725 million in 2009. By 2012, it believes that figure will triple.

Such growth and the continued success of games like FarmVille and CityVille has helped Zynga's value explode. Back in October, the company's valuation was estimated at $5.51 billion. Last month, reports claimed the company was trying to raise $500 million on a$10 billion valuation.