Gameloft takes on FarmVille with Facebook casual game Green Farm

Gameloft, the popular iPhone and mobile developer, has dipped its toes into the social networking scene with agricultural time manager, Green Farm.

Like most of Gameloft’s games, from Resident Evil-inspired undead blaster Zombie Infection to Call of Duty-influenced shooter Modern Combat, it has more than a slight resemblance to another game.

This time, its the ultra popular Facebook and iPhone farm sim, FarmVille, which has 70 million active players a month and rakes in over $150 million (about £97 million) yearly.

Gameloft’s game, which has an eco-friendly theme, launched very quietly on FarmVille’s home turf - Facebook - earlier this month. The game already has a good 24,000 active users to its name.

FarmVille shouldn’t feel too slighted: many critics accuse the Zynga phenomonon of ripping off Farm Town, another time management sim on the social network.