14 DAY TRIAL // Dan Porter, the leader of the Zynga studio based in New York, says that video game developers have been copying each other ever since the industry started and that his company is not to blame for the similarities between its titles and those of other developers.
In an open letter, the developer states, “Before making Draw Something we ran OMGPOP for four years and made lots of games that were inspired by games we loved and we emulated the mechanics from games with great UI. This is no great revelation.”
Zynga has long been under attack for the fact that its biggest hits are similar to other titles that have the same mechanics but often lack the marketing power to get a big audience.
Dan Porter adds, “There is great stuff in the pipeline. I really do believe that Zynga is the best in the world at creating and socializing games, and running the as a service that people love. Ultimately that is the huge factor in what makes Zynga a sustaining company.”
Apparently, the true discussion should not be about copied games but about how to best deliver them as a service to a wide audience.
During 2012, Zynga was the target of a suit from publisher Electronic Arts, claiming that TheVille has cosmetic and gameplay similarities to The Sims Social.
EA wanted to stand up for the gaming industry and force Zynga to change its copying ways, but the two companies have since settled the case out of court.
Zynga has recently seen a decline in player numbers, which has led to a drop in share value, mostly because its new releases have failed to get the same number of players as older titles.
The company has also lost a lot of development talent, including Brian Reynolds, formerly of Firaxis, who is now working on his own projects.