In support of Maxis, EA, which may have been voted worst company in America, is taking a stand against online gaming company Zynga for what they believe to be blatant copyright infringement involving their Facebook game The Ville and Maxis' The Sims Social.
A statement from Lucy Bradshaw, General Manager for Maxis:
As outlined in our complaint, 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. Scores of media and bloggers commented on the blatant mimicry.
In the past, several gaming companies and a multitude of gamers have pointed out the obvious rip-offs Zynga has produced. While EA may not be too popular among consumers at the moment, it’s good to see they are taking a stand to defend creative properties. I think the evidence is clear that Zynga certainly is in the wrong. Just take a look at the two screencaps below.
The Ville, featured second, looks almost exactly like The Sims Social with a few minor differences.
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