I'm not sure how I feel about this. Granted Zynga are dicks, but you can't (or at least shouldn't be able to) copyright an idea. Competition is healthy, but having said that Zynga don't seem to be innovating at all.
Not the first time Zynga has done this, and probably not the last. Borrowing a concept is one thing, but they're pretty blatant with just how closely their clones look & feel to the originals.
Zynga can get away with this, but don't you dare try to do this as an indie dev or you will get rejected over and over again until you finally get so frustrated that you decide to find a tall building and jump.
Zynga can get away with this, but don't you dare try to do this as an indie dev or you will get rejected over and over again until you finally get so frustrated that you decide to find a tall building and jump.
I'll have to disagree with you on that one.... Apple is well known for not caring too much about copies etc
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I'll have to disagree with you on that one.... Apple is well known for not caring too much about copies etc
You're right there are a lot of copycat apps approved. I have just had my app rejected for "duplicate" in a case that i don't think is even close, but Zynga gets away with it. I guess im just frustrated with apple and the inconsistent approval process.
You're right there are a lot of copycat apps approved. I have just had my app rejected for "duplicate" in a case that i don't think is even close, but Zynga gets away with it. I guess im just frustrated with apple and the inconsistent approval process.
Did they decide it was a duplicate due to the name, branding or the content of the app?
Thats why I think it is scary to release a game/app less than 100%. Zyanga or anyone for that matter that has more man power than an indie dev. They can have a much better looking and maybe more feature rich clone out in no time with all the man power some of these studios have.
Not saying I have any games or anything anyone would copy but yea.
I think in general, it's an issue. Refreshe has it pretty dead on. They really don't do much to hide the fact that they're taking the cores of other games to build their own.
That being said, good job by Zynga for creating the sustainability behind it. From a purely business sense, it's a functional model.
Anything for app developers from here for a while will be a constant battle against that, which is a sad reality. Somebody was going to rise to the top - it's just sad that Zynga did it by cheating in some ways.
I find developers who steal assets from other games (like people who have lifted whole Flash games) or try to trick consumers into thinking they are buying something else to be the worst "copycats" in my opinion.
I find developers who steal assets from other games (like people who have lifted whole Flash games) or try to trick consumers into thinking they are buying something else to be the worst "copycats" in my opinion.
I agree. I don't think Zynga is doing anything illegal or even unethical... it just sucks to see a company who seems inherently uncreative drive out competing companies who seem to have a true passion for creating cool stuff.
On the other hand though, I've seen several of these comparisons where Zynga has created clones of successful indie developers, but I've never seen the results.. Has Zynga been sucessful in squashing the competition? It seems that even with the large name and company behind it, something like the #1 top game as voted by Apple would be hard to overtake. Also, I've read that Zynga still makes all their money off of Facebook games, primarily Farmville and Mafia Wars. Apparently they loose money as a whole, and their mobile division is yet to be profitable. Maybe the market rewards originality after all... time will tell I suppose.
I wonder if it's an issue of them picking on small companies that just can't afford to fight in the court, or that they are legally entitled to steel anyone's ideas.
My guess is that with 'game of the year' You'd have enough money to find out if it's legal or not.
If it is legal, this could actually work both ways, example: you take all of their apps and flood the market with near-exact work-alikes until someone realizes that everyone (including the end user) is the loser in this battle
Maybe Apple should step up and decide if they really want to continue to water down the app store.
I wonder if it's an issue of them picking on small companies that just can't afford to fight in the court, or that they are legally entitled to steel anyone's ideas.
It is legal. You can't copyright "look and feel". There is no trademark or copyright infringement here.
The best you could do would be to patent the gameplay mechanics, but that is both expensive and likely to not even be possible for anything but the most novel techniques.
It is legal. You can't copyright "look and feel". There is no trademark or copyright infringement here.
The best you could do would be to patent the gameplay mechanics, but that is both expensive and likely to not even be possible for anything but the most novel techniques.
FYI, I posted this once before a long time ago, but it's worth a repost in this thread:
Ver interesting read from Forbes! The memo has a lot of insight, Microsoft didn't invent the browser, they crushed DiskDoubler by having disk compression built in, XTreePro had a killer product, now gone.
I guess this is just the way the game is played, it's been like that for a long time now.
One thing that was also interesting was the YouTube video comparing Zynga's products to another where they claim the other company 'crossed the line' They might have crossed the line, but really, they mention 'Gold Coins' used in the pet app. Gold Coins???? Really? Mario Brothers had gold coins... I think Zynga needs to SHUT UP about people steeling their ideas!
Zynga one of the WORST copycat?
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