Take one small indie studio, one surprise hit game, and one publisher looking to profit from the game. What do you get?
Usually, a publishing deal. But we’ve heard a few stories recently of copyright infringement, or even all out theft, and now Spry Fox are filing a lawsuit claiming their work was plagiarized by 6Waves LOLAPPS.
The lawsuit revolves around two main points. First, the similarities between Triple Town and LOLAPPS’ version game Yeti Town. And by “similarities” we mean the fact the two games are identical in almost every possible way.
Cloned games are nothing new, and lawsuits against them are often rejected on the basis that an idea can’t be copyrighted. But the second point, which the lawsuit may hinge on, is that LOLAPPS had exclusive access to Triple Town for months. Negotiations for a publishing agreement began before the game was even publicly released – but were abruptly cancelled on the day Yeti Town launched.
Dan Cook has a more lengthy explanation of their stance at his Lost Garden blog.
