Zynga Sues Vostu Brazil Game Company! Copy CityVille, FarmVille Game Design, Layout, Storyline!

Max Woolf · Top Commenter · Carnegie Mellon University
What would happen if Zynga sued Facebook for hosting Vostu games? It would be the legal version of dividing by zero.
Reply · 11 · · August 3 at 3:11pm

Jonathan Quintanilla · Hastings High School
I can't even. Hah.
Reply · · August 3 at 3:14pm
yhoowarrior (signed in using Yahoo)
considering zynga has a partnership and contract with facebook? yea not happening. yes i know its a joke. no it wasnt very funny.
Reply · 2 · · August 3 at 4:04pm
cartonsidney (signed in using Yahoo)
Vostu should just host all their games on Facebook. Then they are immune against lawsuits from Zynga. Problem solved.
Reply · · August 3 at 8:28pm
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Brian Vermette
Wow, Zynga sues another company over someone (I guess) ripping them off, but when does Maxis and Electronic Arts (EA Sports) sue Zynga for ripping them off?

With that said, as much as FarmVille and CityVille are interesting, nothing beats SimCity and its many editions over the years, that game was the best and unlike FarmVille and CityVille, SimCity is where you actually could buy a copy and keep it, rather than buying online currency and use something for a little while.
Reply · 4 · · August 3 at 3:49pm

Sean Moran · UCSB
the later is a better business model.
Reply · 1 · · August 4 at 10:43pm

Dany Pelletier · Top Commenter · Founder - Fondateur at FaceFlow
Zynga is a baby and Facebook is their mom. Attacking Facebook and having no help from them is a sure way to die slowly and not become the Spartan Baby.

Zynga is so dependant on Facebook, I think they're still Facebook's biggest advertiser, the advertising sum was like 50,000$/day? No shit they grow and everybody's interested in them. Anybody knows what's Zynga's retention rate / active user rate for their gamers?
Reply · 2 · · August 3 at 5:46pm
cartonsidney (signed in using Yahoo)
I think according to internet statistics (aka Oatmeal). 60% of facebook's traffic come from 40-year old women playing farmville. It's that good.
Reply · 1 · · August 3 at 8:36pm

Dany Pelletier · Top Commenter · Founder - Fondateur at FaceFlow
Seems right. So many moms are ditching their cooking courses for Farmville :/
Reply · · August 3 at 10:38pm

Gus Jackson · Director, Latin America at Quest Software
I am fluent in Portuguese and have been going down to Brazil for many years. I am actually shocked that a Brazilian court sided with Zynga - I completely believe that it was the correct decision - The comparisons that I saw seem to be a complete replication of Zynga. To be fair - I have never played a Zynga game or a Vostu game. My experience is that the decisions in local region usually side locally and not with international community.
Reply · 2 · · August 3 at 6:59pm

Serge Bronstein · Top Commenter · CEO/Founder at AceTiger.com | The Place for Tech Jobs
haha they didn't sue facebook cuz without facebook, there would be no zynga.
Reply · 1 · · August 3 at 4:38pm
yhoowarrior (signed in using Yahoo)
Google, the advertising company, is getting destroyed haha.
Reply · 1 · · August 3 at 3:50pm
michaelcolemanz (signed in using Yahoo)
Any figures on how many lawsuits Google is involved in?
Reply · 1 · · August 3 at 4:06pm

Naval Gilles · Top Commenter · Nyack High School
yeah so much so they had a 32% increase in profits last quarter. I happen to like targeted ads, I witch TV had them.
Reply · 4 · · August 3 at 4:48pm
cartonsidney (signed in using Yahoo)
I guess litigation is still the more civil way to settle these disputes. Better than in the old days where we just dueled until dead....ah I miss the good old days.
Reply · · August 3 at 8:34pm

Brett Radler · Top Commenter · Founder at 86Serving.com
I cant imagine what this group of investors are thinking now! Did they ever look at the product before they invested their money? -note Accel!

Total $45.9M
Seed, 6/08 1.
Intel Capital
...See More
Reply · · August 3 at 6:45pm

Roxanne Gibert · CEO at Spyra
Is Zynga upset that Google+ might open up to major social game developers and they might lose their edge as the primary social games developer once the playing field is leveled as other developers acquire traffic on another emerging platform? Or maybe they just can't bite the hand that feeds them according to their arrangement.
Reply · · August 3 at 9:12pm

Roxanne Gibert · CEO at Spyra
Hopefully not another attempt to strongarm a backdoor deal that gives them an edge over other developers - which would seem to go against Googles "Do no evil" ..
Reply · · August 3 at 9:15pm

Bill Young · Independence, Missouri
The ironic thing about this is Facebook's games are all ripoffs of games from other companies.
Reply · · August 6 at 9:39pm

Alina Kozyreva · Donetsk State University of Management
Zynga was recently sued for copying games. So now Vostu copied their games. It's a kind of Big Companies cheating. Anyways, people like all of the games though they are similar.

www.vitaver.com
Reply · · August 4 at 7:36am
kiru.sabi (signed in using Yahoo)
Stupid judge. In those regions if any company based in a first world company comes after you the court goes into a frenzy, no WAY would Vostu have a chance at winning this in Brazil, but it won't be so easy in the U.S. Are they even bothering to continue suing them in the U.S?
Reply · · August 3 at 4:49pm

Joey Kaibelf Yokubaitis · Top Commenter
This must be Zynga's secret attempt to destroy Android and stifle innovation. I look forward to Google's blog post bitching about it.
Reply · · August 3 at 9:33pm
ricardo_amaral_filho (signed in using Yahoo)
Because Orkut is much bigger in Brazil than Facebook, especially for Vostu.
Reply · · August 3 at 3:39pm

Igor Oliyarnik · Top Commenter · Cleveland State University
Yes, I'm sure that's the reason.
Reply · · August 3 at 3:41pm
yhoowarrior (signed in using Yahoo)
facebook is bigger than orkut in brazil and has been since 2008.
Reply · · August 3 at 3:49pm

Michael Arrington · Top Commenter · Founder at TechCrunch
I think we know the real reason.
Reply · 1 · · August 3 at 3:59pm
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Matheus Segura · Cambé
se isto não é um cópia, pouhan, que qué dizer copiar então né? hahaha
Reply · · August 3 at 3:23pm

Ravi Sheth · Top Commenter · Garfield High School, Garfield, NJ
These guys again.................
Reply · · August 3 at 3:47pm
michaelcolemanz (signed in using Yahoo)
Does this mean there'll be no Farmville on Google+?
Reply · · August 3 at 3:56pm
yhoowarrior (signed in using Yahoo)
it means google+ is the next orkut, buzz, picasa, wave.
Reply · · August 3 at 4:03pm
cartonsidney (signed in using Yahoo)
I think Farmville on Google+ could happen when Facebook and Zynga's partnership ends which still has a couple of years. Given that Zynga is likely the opportunist, they will quickly support the current winner, which could be Facebook or Google+.
Reply · · August 3 at 8:43pm

Greg Nash
they are taking farmville to google its happening now
Reply · · August 6 at 5:03pm

David A Fenton · Top Commenter · Works at DFMedia Studios
I can't get my head around this one.
Reply · · August 3 at 3:59pm

Sheena Allana · Top Commenter · UC Davis
Really Zynga? Steal from others but when you do it, it's legal?
Reply · 8 · · August 3 at 3:12pm

Michael Arrington · Top Commenter · Founder at TechCrunch
life is sometimes more complicated that a neat sounding sound bite.
Reply · 1 · · August 3 at 3:26pm

Sheena Allana · Top Commenter · UC Davis
I... wait. what?
Reply · · August 3 at 3:54pm

Michael Arrington · Top Commenter · Founder at TechCrunch
I mean, what zynga has done in the past doesn't mean that anyone can steal from them and it's fine.
Reply · · August 3 at 3:58pm
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Rodrigo Pontes
Page 8, item 19, says Vostu site in the portuguese version is US based, in english version says it is based in São Paulo! lol
Com'on, Vostu is not serious. One point of the report says it is shocked how Vostu have copied even useless features, as a girl, with brown hair, on a formal suit! They didn't even bother to make her blond! lol
I don't about other copies made by Zynga or whatecer, but THIS case is ridiculous, it is impossible not to give Zynga the case.
And a lot of american web companies are loosing space for copies here in Brazil. There is a big market here and it is SO easy to create local versions of website/game. American companies are TOO US focused. There are a lot of money to be made here. And it is been made, but by clones.
Reply · 2 · · August 3 at 10:50pm

Eduardo da Silva · Works at Instituto Dante Pazzanese de Cardiologia
Why the brazilian court does not prevent the two can stop these pests damn games?
Reply · 1 · · August 5 at 5:10am

Greg Nash
i reckon they should put the lot in the octagon and let them all go for it ,,, winner takes all
Reply · · August 6 at 5:06pm