ESPN Shutting Down Its "College Town" Social Media Game Next Month

ESPN today said it will shutter its FarmVille-type social game, "ESPNU College Town," next month. The company's initial foray into social gaming, "ESPNU College Town" was a prominent part of ESPN's '10 Upfront presentation, and launched in September '10. The net this past summer said the game garnered more than 582,000 monthly users and more than 7 million total downloads, with an average user session in the game of about 70 minutes. But ESPN Dir of Digital Communications Kevin Ota said the game "has run its course." Ota: "All social games have a certain shelf life, and we're now shifting our attention to other games." ESPN earlier this year launched its second social game, "ESPN Sports Bar & Grill," and has others in development.