'The Godfather' Game to Launch on Facebook

NEW YORK - Social gaming powerhouse Zynga has had much success with its Mafia Wars game on Facebook, one of several popular mob-themed social games. Now, a social gaming firm is preparing to bring a game based on The Godfather to Facebook this fall.

San Francisco-based Kabam has developed the game called The Godfather: Five Families, based on a license from Viacom's Paramount Pictures, the LA Times reported.

The game takes place in New York City in the 1930s, a decade before where the first movie in the film trilogy starts, according to the paper. Players are born into one of the five mafia families featured in the franchise and must fight or scheme their way to the top to become don.

As is typically the case for social games, the Godfather game will be free, but Kabam plans to make money by selling virtual goods, such as weapons or special abilities. However, the company is targeting more of a hard-core gaming audience than is typical for generally broad-based social games, according to the Times.

"We're bringing a hard-core mafia experience to social games," said Kabam COO Chris Carvalho, former head of business development at Lucasfilm. "We think there's a completely untapped audience for that."

Previously, Electronic Arts made two Godfather games in 2006 and 2009.