Zynga gets a lot of flack for their tactics, and a more common one is them making a complete knockoff of someone else’s game within months of its release. A few days back, the makers of Tiny Tower accused Zynga of ripping off their game, making their own version called Dream Heights. Buffalo Studios was tagged in, and they have released their own accusation.
Buffalo Studios, creator of Bingo Blitz, has released an infographic containing a significant degree of snark and sarcasm on the similarities of Bingo Blitz with Zynga’s knockoff as you can see in the linked image. Down to the keys, a good degree of the screen layout, and concept. A fine example of ripping off what’s popular.
This isn’t the only thing Zynga has ripped off, as their game Farmville is extremely similar to Farm Town which was published months prior down to the super deformed art style. They have not been without successful litigation however, as a lawsuit brought against them for Mafia Wars ripping off Mob Wars was settled for around 7-9 million dollars.
Speaking of Mafia Wars, one lawsuit filed against them by Digital Chocolate a good while back spelled out such things, saying they had ripped off the name Mafia Wars which they had the rights to. Accusations against Zynga over the years have included illegal marketing campaigns that involved littering and vandalism in San Francisco, and demanding employees return stock before the company goes through an IPO. It makes me wonder how they stay in business, maybe the money they make means that lawsuits are just another expense to them.
