Another developer accuses Zynga of game cloning

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Zynga Bingo looks rather familiar.

For the second time this month, social gaming giant Zynga has been accused of cloning another developer's game.

Following Tiny Tower developer Nimblebit's assertion last week that Zynga had lifted the game's core concept for its own Dream Heights title, Buffalo Studios today pointed out certain similarities between its Facebook effort Bingo Blitz and Zynga Bingo, which recently entered closed beta.

An infographic published online by the developer puts the two games side by side. Take a look below and see if you can tell the difference.

"We are moved that your new game was so inspired by our innovative product Bingo Blitz," it read.

"Please tell your thousands of employees and shareholders that we hope they enjoy playing the games we're cooking up next!"

Buffalo's game launched a year ago and boasts over a million daily users.

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About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

Comments (29) Latest comment 4 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

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ring_piece #1 4 months ago

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Litigating Zynga out of business is one way I suppose...
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wayn3h #2 4 months ago

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Hardly surprising is it?

http://blog.games.com/2010/09/08/zynga-ceo-to-employees-i-dont-f-ing-want-innovation/

Edited by wayn3h at 30/01/12 @ 17:37
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Architect_z #3 4 months ago

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Looks like bingo
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CloisterBlack #4 4 months ago

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BYNGA!
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Subdominator #5 4 months ago

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Just sue them.
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Maximinn #6 4 months ago

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I dont see this as that big a deal.

Mystery boxes, free gifts, collections,... these are all used by most social games and the UI's are all pretty similar.

As for the rest of it, how much originality can you really have when you're just making a straight bingo game. They're bound to look similar.

Zynga were clearly plagiarising when they made Dream Heights, Farmville, Mafia Wars, Petville, Cafeville, etc. I don't think thet were plagerising when they made this though.
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BeardofZeus #7 4 months ago

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I'm starting a company called Xynga. The games will be just like Zynga's but all the prices will be 1p cheaper.

Any venture capitalists want to fund me?
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Eldritch #8 4 months ago

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@wayn3h

Interesting comment there by user "remix".
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lucky_jim #9 4 months ago

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This is what I said when the last "Zynga thievery" story broke. Given the deja vu this story has caused me, I thought I'd re-post it. If Zynga do this enough times, and I post this in response every time, it might end up eventually being the top result when you google them.
----
If the games industry were a person, Zynga would be huge festering sore on his anus. In fact, let's redefine Zynga.
Zynga (n): A large, particluarly unpleasant sore, esp. in the anal area, which tends to leak rancid pus at inopportune moments.
Admit it, when anyone mentions Zynga that's the mental image you'll have. And quite right too.

Edited by lucky_jim at 30/01/12 @ 18:32
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ronecvan_is_here #10 4 months ago

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everything Zynga makes looks familiar, because its a copy and paste job. I've seen a toddler put more development time into a lego house than these guys pour some talent into a decent game.
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StooMonster #11 4 months ago

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Bazinga by Zynga
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zubnut #12 4 months ago

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Those idiots should have patented that bingo thing.
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Neil__ #13 4 months ago

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What's the betting that these assholes support SOPA and PIPA.
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Neil__ #14 4 months ago

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Post deleted at 20:13:33 30-01-2012
StooMonster #15 4 months ago

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@Subdominator Under US law there's no grounds to sue, you cannot copyright a game design or look-and-feel.
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darkmorgado #16 4 months ago

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@zubnut You can't copyright computer games, only the text used in those computer games.

Interesting fact.
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mr_bez #17 4 months ago

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Protesting that someone ripped you off by so blatantly copying someone else's maketing ploy seems odd. Next side-by-side:
Dear Buffalo,
We are move that your new infographic was so inspired by our innovative infographic,
Love Nimblebit.
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Dave #18 4 months ago

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@mr_bez That's what I thought too. It garnered a lot of sympathy for Nimblebit the way they handled it. Now it seems these guys try to get their share of the sympathy pie. Setting this aside though, I do feel bad for them being copied like this by Zynga.
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Canyarion #19 4 months ago

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Those Zynga Zergs are doing pretty well in the After Hours Gaming League of Starcraft II.
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00.00.01 #20 4 months ago

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@lucky_jim
There is a platform for you http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Zynga
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Ashcroft #21 4 months ago

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It's fucking bingo. Numbers, limes and shit. Are these people honestly getting butt hurt over the fact that someone stole their idea of copying an existing popular game? Nobody steal my idea for a chess video game.
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Shadders #22 4 months ago

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@darkmorgado
Didn't Nintendo successfully sue whoever made Super Giana Sisters in the 80s?
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L4lefty #23 4 months ago

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Zynga already has a bingo game...It's called Poker! (Anyone who's played it know what I'm on about)
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zegerman1942 #24 4 months ago

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PS: As you can see, NimbleBit inspires us too!

Bloody brilliant

**** Zynga.
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Fido128 #25 4 months ago

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This is probably going to be an unpopular view, but feck it. Bring on the negs, etc.

This is bingo, so while I can't possibly defend Zynga on previous games that it blatantly ripped off, well, how is a bingo game going to look? Answer: pretty much the same as any other bingo game. Again, it's bingo. It's a bit like complaining that one chess game looks like another. These games have looked a certain way for decades. In the case of chess, centuries.

Obviously, Zynga has absolutely nicked ideas in the past, and I wish it nothing but a swift death for that. But in this case, I think the criticism is a bit OTT (albeit in line with everybody's love of slagging off Zynga).

So yeah, I just defended Zynga. I'm off to scrub my entire epidermis off with bleach and steel brushes.
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kingmancheng #26 4 months ago

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@BeardofZeus Count me out because I'm starting Synga, it'll be 1p cheaper than Xynga!
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SaintDaveUK #27 4 months ago

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@darkmorgado I call bollocks. What about programming code and audio?
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Lamb #28 4 months ago

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You can add the game of Scrabble to the list as Words With Friends is also by Zynga and plays the same way.
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zubnut #29 4 months ago

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@darkmorgado
of course i was being totally serious when i said they should have patented the game of BINGO... oh dear, heard of sarcasm at all?
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