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EA (Electronic Arts), Developers of The Sim’s Social, Sues Zynga for Copyright Infringement with The Ville
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The Ville is Zynga’s own version of The Sim’s Social , a Sims branded game with the social networking spin, but EA claims the similarities are too vast, and that it may even confuse unknowing gamers who mistake it for the exact same game. Lucy Bradshaw, General Manager of Maxis (the subsidiary that produces Sims games) explains, “The copying was so comprehensive that the two games are, to an uninitiated observeer, largely indistinguishable. Zynga’s design choices, animations, visual arrangements, and character motions have been directly lifted from The Sims Social.” Zynga’s general counsel Reggie Davis has since responded in a statement claiming, “It’s unfortunate that EA thought that this was an appropriate response to our game, and clearly demonstrates a lack of understanding of basic copyright principles,” and he continued stating that, “It’s also ironic that EA brings this suit shortly after launching SimCity Social which bears an uncanny resemblance to Zynga’s CityVille game.”
It isn’t the first time that Zynga’s been under fire for the same copycat scenario or been sued by other gaming studios. Zynga has been known to take existing competitor games, replicate the concept, and of course add their own Zynga touch (for a slideshow of similar games check out Mashable here). Many would be surprised to learn that FarmVille itself was not the very first virtual farming social networking game. The idea of FarmVille is said to be largely borrowed from predecessor virtual farming game Farm Town. However, it’s evident that Farm Town never had the same success as FarmVille. Despite copyright infringement allegations, still millions flock to Zynga’s games which almost always exceed their competitors’ games. There’s clearly something in the Zynga gaming recipe that appeals to a larger audience and helps contribute to the longevity of its gaming repertoire.
Appdata.com breaks the numbers down for top Facebook apps and you can see the shootout below in which The Ville is winning over gamers in just a short period of time since its release date on July 26, 2012. This is no real surprise as the enormous following of existing Zynga gamers are heavily marketed to try out new games in cross-promotions where they can earn free incentives in games they already play for trying out and leveling-up in new games such as The Ville. For example, FarmVille Freaks can take advantage of an ongoing FarmVille & The Ville cross-promotion where they can earn free Unwithers and Instant Grow for FarmVille when they level-up in the The Ville.
Check out The Ville’s current users versus the The Sims Social below, and we’ve thrown in the numbers for FarmVille for fun so you can see where your favorite farming game currently ranks. We’ve seen it fluctuate on the App Leaderboards over the past three years, but it still maintains a stronghold as one of the top Facebook apps with the one of the highest DAU (Daily Active Users).
Facebook App Leaderboards (August 2012)
Top App (MAU Monthly Active Users) DAU (Daily Active Users)
The Ville – 40.3 million The Ville – 7.2 million
The Sims Social – 16.5 million The Sims Social – 2.9
FarmVille – 27.5 million FarmVille – 11.8 million
Release Dates
The Sims Social – August 9, 2011
The Ville – July 26, 2012
(Source: Appdata.com, PcWorld.com, Mashable)
How many of you FarmVille Freaks are part-time The Ville or The Sim’s Social players and what do you think about this lawsuit?
Tags: EA, EA Sues Zynga, Electronic Arts, farmville, The Sims Social, The Ville, zynga
Posted on August 4th, 2012 at 6:15 pm
I hope Zynga gets taught a lesson, they have become so GREEDY… and NOT 1 Player will DISAGREE with me, that FarmVille is NO FUN anymore… I have read there are some Zynga employee’s are in trouble.
Posted on August 4th, 2012 at 7:25 pm
I knew this was going to happen the minute I saw the game
Posted on August 5th, 2012 at 12:04 am
most people are only playing the ville for the free stuff for fv i think the ville sux but love sims social it is kinda alike but the ville i just dont like
Posted on August 5th, 2012 at 2:28 am
not intrest in game like this
Posted on August 5th, 2012 at 6:48 am
Zynga does nothing but steal ideas, Sim-The Ville, Farmtown-Farmville, Social City-Cityville…seriously putting ville at the end of a name doesn’t mean you created it and I agree with Juno I played to get my free stuff and I’m done.
Posted on August 5th, 2012 at 8:33 am
The Ville is a shameless ripoff of The Sims social and considering the stuff that Zynga sued in the last few years, they deserved this. I though that I would never say this, but I’m with EA this once. Both are horrible companies that need to improve drastically though.
Posted on August 5th, 2012 at 9:30 am
I play them both but prefer The Sims Social, I think there’s room for both games
Posted on August 5th, 2012 at 1:29 pm
Even though I play FV myself (obviously), it’s so sad to see another company put so much work into bringing a game to FB, only to be crushed because Zynga released a ripoff that gives you Unwithers (most likely) for a broken game they don’t even care enough to fix.
I hope EA and Maxis get good compensation for this, and that Zynga finally realizes that their greed is actually catching up to them and biting them on their backsides.
Posted on August 5th, 2012 at 1:54 pm
I know many are frustrated with Zynga…but I do not like the Sims and there is a difference between the two. I like the Ville much better and more of my friends play this game than the Sims. I love FV and will continue playing this game along with countless others. It is a shame lawsuits have to be filed when these games are supposed to be for people’s enjoyment.
Posted on August 5th, 2012 at 5:38 pm
I have been a Sims freak and the moment i heard about The Ville immediately I saw the resemblance.
Reading what Zynga has to say about this lawsuit, it is clear it does not deny copycatting Sim’s Social. It even admits to copycatting other games too. This does not bode well towards Zynga’s integrity.
Instead of addressing the issue Zynga instead gives out the statistics on its gaming popularity. Apparently Zynga is saying that popularity holds ground over integrity.
I may even add that perhaps the reason why Zynga needs substantial revenue from the games and that means from us folks …. is partly to cover for costs of litigations and pay their lawyers.
Posted on August 6th, 2012 at 1:19 pm
Farmville and co are all copy of EA games ! I am a Simsfreak and all is the same !
Posted on August 6th, 2012 at 1:22 pm
And last but not least The graphics from Sims social are so ugly ,Sims 3 is so brilliant that that is the reason I don’t play this game!
Posted on August 16th, 2012 at 12:40 pm
this line ““It’s also ironic that EA brings this suit shortly after launching SimCity Social which bears an uncanny resemblance to Zynga’s CityVille game.” completely irritates me. Sim City has been out since 1989, they took their own game and made it social. EA isn’t copying, EA sets its own standard. As far as life sims go, do any other real games stick out in your mind? (not flash facebook games)