"The Happy Farmer" was started in April last year in the social network VKontakte and has since brought its makers about $20 million, said Alexei Kostarev, the founder of i-Jet, the company that developed the game for a Russian audience. This is an absolute record for Russia's market of games for social networks, whose volume in 2009 was about $30 million, said Nikita Sherman, founder of Drimmi, a developer of such games.
"The Happy Farmer," according to Kostareva, was developed by the Chinese company Elex, but it was i-Jet that translated it into Russian and developed it for Russia.
To be more specific, $20 million is the total revenue from the game: Part of the money goes to the social network web sites, and part to the developer. "The Happy Farmer" allows players to grow plants and animals in their own virtual farm. The game is free, but users can receive virtual bonuses within the game for real money. It is not clear who exactly invented the idea of a virtual farm.