Electronic Arts Sues Zynga for Allegedly Ripping Off 'Sims Social' Game
Game developer Zynga has made a fortune in part by altering existing game concepts into their own creations, such as Words With Friends (an obvious take on Scrabble, with a social twist and other elements that are Zynga's own). As far as Electronic Arts is concerned, however, Zynga went too far with The Ville, which EA claims infringes its Facebook game The Sims Social.
"Zynga's design choices, animations, visual arrangements, and character motions and actions have been directly lifted from The Sims Social," said Lucy Bradshaw, general manager of EA's Maxis label.
From Zynga's legal vantage point, EA is off its rocker on this one. Zynga claims The Ville is just another game in its Ville franchise, and that the lawsuit "clearly demonstrates [EA's] lack of understanding of basic copyright principles." Zynga also called the timing suspect, throwing it out there that EA's recently launched "SimCity Social bears an uncanny resemblance to Zynga's CityVille."
Zynga is used to defending against copyright claims. Earlier this year, the developers at NimbleBit accused Zynga of ripping off its Tiny Tower game with Dream Heights.
"Zynga's design choices, animations, visual arrangements, and character motions and actions have been directly lifted from The Sims Social," said Lucy Bradshaw, general manager of EA's Maxis label.
From Zynga's legal vantage point, EA is off its rocker on this one. Zynga claims The Ville is just another game in its Ville franchise, and that the lawsuit "clearly demonstrates [EA's] lack of understanding of basic copyright principles." Zynga also called the timing suspect, throwing it out there that EA's recently launched "SimCity Social bears an uncanny resemblance to Zynga's CityVille."
Zynga is used to defending against copyright claims. Earlier this year, the developers at NimbleBit accused Zynga of ripping off its Tiny Tower game with Dream Heights.
