EA file lawsuit against Zynga

Electronic Arts have filed a lawsuit against the social gaming giant Zynga, who are a company very closely linked to Facebook. EA claims the Zynga game The Ville, “copied the original and distinctive expressive elements” of the EA game The Sims Social. The complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California on August the 3rd.

As the name of the EA game would suggest, the Sims Social is EA’s redesign of its popular Sims game series for Facebook. The title launched in August 2011 and currently enjoys several million active players while Zynga’s The Ville was introduced two months ago.

Lucy Bradshaw, general manager of EA’s Maxis label, believes the similarities between the two titles are well beyond superficial differences and they are certainly not a coincidence. She specifically highlights Zynga’s design choices, animations, visual arrangements and character motions as elements that have been “borrowed” or stolen from EA’s game. She also points out that its not the first time a company has made copyright claims against Zynga, but it is the first time a company has possessed the financial resources to do something about it.

Zynga responded by stating EA’s The Sims Social game is a direct copy off their CityVille game. The social media gaming company plans to defend their rights to the fullest extent possible.

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