Jay Riddle

Case study 02

CityVille Reboot (unreleased)

Senior Art Director, Zynga (San Francisco), 2016–2019

  • AAA mobile city builder built in Unity
  • In-house and offshore art teams
Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood — CityVille Reboot gameplayGameplay footage, shown by permission of Zynga

The challenge

CityVille was one of the biggest social games ever made. It reached 100 million players within weeks of its 2010 Facebook launch (VentureBeat), and Guinness recorded it as the most popular social networking game. In 2018 Zynga publicly committed to rebuilding it for mobile from the ground up, to feel familiar but with new ways to play. My job was to define what a modern AAA CityVille should look like.

My role

I directed visual development for the reboot.

What I did

  • Defined the look. I set the direction for a bright isometric city where every building, road, and district reads clearly at mobile scale.
  • Built the pipeline. I set visual standards and production pipelines so the in-house and offshore teams could deliver consistent work.
  • Worked hands-on. I created in-game assets in Unity for player research and marketing tests.

Concept art

Visual development from City X, the reboot’s code name. Click any image for a larger view.

City X concept painting: a glass Future Modern stadium with iridescent panels, flanked by a stepped garden tower and a twisting glass skyscraper against a blue sky
Future Modern stadium color key

City and future districts

City X concept art: line paintover of a whole city seen from above, with skyscrapers, a stadium, a ferris wheel and dense downtown blocks
City overview line paintover
City X concept art: isometric Future Modern district with glass skyscrapers, a high-rise apartment and a glass sphere around a road intersection, with untextured versions alongside
Future Modern skyline district
City X concept art: lineup of white and blue Future Tech buildings, from glowing factories and office towers down to small kiosks and props
Future Tech district lineup
City X concept art: lineup of curved space-age civic buildings in silver and blue glass on green lots, with small decorations
Space-age civic district lineup
City X concept render: a white eco tower wrapped in a spiral of solar panels, with farm terraces and hedge gardens around its base
Eco tower: agricultural co-op

Landmarks and attractions

City X concept art: isometric Paris nightlife buildings including a Moulin Rouge-style cabaret with a red windmill, an elephant pavilion, cafés and a neon theater
Paris nightlife polish set
City X concept art: isometric Gothic cathedral, a spired monument in a formal garden, Parisian apartment buildings and café props
Gothic landmark polish set
City X concept art: isometric Lisbon playset with a hilltop palace in yellow and red, a Belém-style tower, a palace, pastel townhouses and roads
Lisbon landmark playset
City X brewery attraction render: a red-brick brewery with copper stills, stacked barrels, a bottle-shaped gateway and a beer garden with umbrellas
Brewery attraction, final stage

Outcome

Zynga announced the reboot publicly in 2018, and it stayed on the company’s 2019 game pipeline. It was never released.

Screenshots

Click any image for full resolution.

CityVille Reboot screenshot 8CityVille Reboot screenshot 1CityVille Reboot screenshot 2CityVille Reboot screenshot 3CityVille Reboot screenshot 4CityVille Reboot screenshot 5CityVille Reboot screenshot 6CityVille Reboot screenshot 7CityVille Reboot screenshot 9