http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/04/busin ... .html?_r=1
The video game publisher Electronic Arts sued Zynga on Friday, accusing the social gaming company of copying crucial elements of its Sims Social game for Zynga’s own title, The Ville. The lawsuit is the latest in a series of copycat accusations leveled against Zynga, a company that shrugged off similar litigation in the past as it grew into the dominant publisher of games on Facebook.
In a 40-page filing, Electronic Arts pointed out numerous game elements it claimed Zynga mimicked in The Ville, like personality traits or avatars’ actions, like conversing and dancing. In one instance, Electronic Arts claimed that The Ville characters included eight personality types, ranging from athlete to villain, that mirrored The Sims’ own jock-to-scoundrel lineup. Electronic Arts also accused Zynga of using eight identical colors for its characters’ skin-tone palette. Shares of Electronic Arts, which is based in the Redwood City, Calif., rose 60 cents, or 5.28 percent, to $11.97.
