Candy Crush developer King files suit over allegedly copied titles

Successful mobile and social developer King has filed suit against fellow mobile developer 6Waves, alleging that the company has blatantly copied two of its titles. Imitation and outright theft of mobile IPs is not new to the field. Accusations from simple written complaints to formal lawsuits have been lodged against a number of companies, most prominently Zynga. However, historically, King has rarely involved itself in litigation. Nevertheless, with the runaway success of Candy Crush Saga and solid performance of other games in its Saga family of titles, the developer has become a high-profile target for imitation, and there's at least a certain amount of damning evidence in its favor here. The lawsuit, filed earlier today with the U.S. district court in San Francisco, concerns King's Pet Rescue Saga and Farm Heroes Saga. The developer provided two side-by-side comparisons between its games and two titles by 6Waves, Treasure Epic and Farm Epic, both of which bear a strong similarity in terms of color scheme, puzzle design and UI. "6Waves went well beyond simply using King's ideas for inspiration," King co-founder and CEO Riccardo Zacconi said in a statement, as reported in VentureBeat. "We welcome fair competition but developers that simply mimic our products... pose a threat not just to us, but to the entire games industry." Gamasutra has reached out to 6Waves for comment on the suit's allegations. UPDATE: A 6Waves representative has responded to Gamasutra with the following statement: "6waves cannot provide detailed comments at this stage but we deny all allegations of the copyright infringement complaint by King.com Limited. Puzzle solving games and themes like farming and jewels are not unique and have been created by many other companies. Such popular gameplay and themes cannot be copyrighted." Below, on the left, are screens from King's Pet Rescue Saga and Farm Heroes Saga. On the right are screens from 6Waves's Treasure Epic and Farm Epic. Both side-by-side comparisons come provided by King.