Spry Fox sues 6waves Lolapps over Triple Town clone Yeti Town
Clone wars
Spry Fox CEO David Edery is taking a stand. Unable to ignore the similarities between 6waves Lolapps's Yeti Town and Spry Fox's own Triple Town, he has filed a copyright infringement suit against the mobile game publisher's "blatant copy of Triple Town".
Speaking on his personal blog, David explains how 6waves was drafted in to publish Triple Town on Facebook, but pulled out of the deal on the exact same day that the company's suspiciously similar Yeti Town was published.
David writes, "It's bad enough to rip off another company. To do so while you are pumping them for private information (first, our game design ideas, and later, after the game was launched on Facebook, our private revenue and retention numbers) is profoundly unethical by any measure."
This town ain't big enough for the both of usWhile developers have always drawn inspiration from other games, it is becoming commonplace to see direct clones of successful mobile titles being released within months of the originals.
Only last week, NimbleBit's Ian Marsh took to Twitter to lambast Zynga's Dream Heights for ripping off his company's hugely successful strategy game Tiny Tower.
Incredibly, PG reported this morning on the appearance of a second Tiny Towers clone called Small Street.
Not content to merely voice his disapproval at Yeti Town's all-too-faithful tribute to Triple Town, David has opted to take the matter to the courts.
Twin town
He writes, "This was a difficult decision for Danc and I. We are not enthusiastic about the prospect of spending our time in court as opposed to making games... Unfortunately, it is our opinion that 6waves has behaved in a reprehensible and illegal manner, and we can not, in good conscience, ignore it."
David has published the full complaint, which lists in exhaustive detail the similarities between Triple Town and Yeti Town.
The question is, if the courts rule in Spry Fox's favour, how many mobile titles could be accused of the same infringement?
PocketGamer.biz / Gamasutra