We recently learned about Electronic Arts’ (EA) plans on filing a lawsuit against Zynga, alleging the latter cloned ‘The Sims Social’ and named it ‘The Ville.’
To understand what the row is all about, take a look at the statement by the general manager of EA Maxis Lucy Bradshaw: “When The Ville was introduced in June 2012, the infringement of The Sims Social was unmistakable to those of us at Maxis as well as to players and the industry at large. The similarities go well beyond any superficial resemblance. Zynga’s design choices, animations, visual arrangements and character motions and actions have been directly lifted from The Sims Social. The copying was so comprehensive that the two games are, to an uninitiated observer, largely indistinguishable.”
Zynga, on the other hand, maintains that it did not copy elements from ‘The Sims Social’ and instead built on innovation from its own previous games such as ‘YoVille’ and ‘CastleVille.’ It expressed regret over the strong reaction by EA to its latest social game, while at the same time vowing to fight back.
It is not the first time for the makers of iconic games such as ‘FarmVille’ to be accused of cloning games, but the San Francisco-based studio has always managed to walk away unharmed.
However, this time things are looking a bit more serious because EA is a giant in gaming industry with plenty of resources at its disposal. A lot of its successful balance sheets have been a result of The Sims franchise, which is a revolutionary life-style simulation game. Therefore, it would not come as a huge surprise to see the California-based company putting in a lot of effort to prove that the original and innovative idea has indeed been stolen by Zynga, a studio which has definitely established itself as one of the biggest competitors to EA as far as social gaming is concerned.
The American laws to protect intellectual property have been there for quite some time now and for obvious reasons. Protection of creativity and innovation is a necessity, one that can neither be overlooked nor argued.
The problem arises when, as suggested by reaction on the online forums, companies begin to abuse these laws to either put their competitors out of business to maintain their monopoly.
The above comment in no way accuses EA of doing such a thing. The general gaming community, however, is beginning to feel that Zynga is not as much at fault as the California-based gaming giant believes.
The matter is of legal nature and thus it would definitely be inappropriate to get into the discussion on whether ‘The Ville’ really does steal elements from ‘The Sims Social’ or if it is merely a resemblance that is well within the boundaries of what is lawful
Disclaimer: the views and opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the editorial policy of news.wishfree.com
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