Monday, January 30, 2012

Buffalo Studios blasts Zynga for copying Bingo Blitz social game



Nimblebit drew some blood last week when the developer of Tiny Tower cast a stone at Zynga, via an infographic, for copying Tiny Tower in an upcoming mobile game called Dream Heights.

Buffalo Studios is using the same tactic tonight as it calls out Zynga Bingo for being a copycat of Buffalo’s popular Facebook game Bingo Blitz. In the infographic at right, the company points out the similarities in graphics, layout, and game play between Zynga’s recently unveiled Zynga Bingo game and Bingo Blitz.

The copycat charges in social games are turning into an epidemic. Earlier today, Spry Fox announced it was suing 6waves Lolapps for copyright infringement for allegedly copying Spry Fox’s game Triple Town by creating Yeti Town.

“We wanted to alert you to the striking similarities between Zynga’s recently announced game, to our game Bingo Blitz,” said Salim Mith, vice president of product marketing and operations at Santa Monica, Calif.-based Buffalo, in an email.

Buffalo launched Bingo Blitz on Facebook a year ago and it is the No. 1 Bingo game on the social network with more than 1 million daily players.

Mith said that Zynga copies aspects of the game including the use of different themed Bingo rooms and cities, as well as updated powerups.

Buffalo was founded in 2010 and it has 45 employees. Bingo Blitz is the company’s only game. We’ve asked Zynga for comment.

11 comments:

  1. Everyone copies everyone, especially in the world of small online games like this.

    ReplyDelete
  2. About Zynga´s Hidden Chronicles:

    This e-mail is sent to zynga support after tons of e-mails and bug-reports not responded to.

    Hidden Chronicles is a copy of Garden of Times and is not working good at all.

    Please let the world know about this.

    Hello!

    You have some HUGE issues in the game.

    1. We can´t collect each others bonus-links or help eachother with our request-links. I have been sitting for HOURS watching the game feed very closely and clicked at every link at once it comes up. The link is only 2-3 seconds ond and when I click it it says that the item is so popular that they have run out! I have been talking to many players in different groups and they are ALL having this issue. No one seems to ever have been abel to collect anything!!!

    2. ENERGY!!!!!! Where is our ENERGY??? 5 minutes to wait for ONE energy is crazyness. You have to wait 45 MINUTES to play ONE scene. Total crazyness. We can only use 4-5 energy from our inventory DAILY and the inventory only holds 10 energy so all energy-gifts are WASTED!!!!!
    3 energy to play a quick-find with your neighbour!!!!! You have to wait 15 minutes to play a quick-find with ONE neighbour. Then wait another 15 minutes to play another quick-find. So there is NO energy EVER to play the scenes!!!! How are you thinking?????
    And no energy for visiting neighbours either!!!!!!!

    3. VERY MANY times my game freezes right afther I have finished a scene and before I get credited for that scene. Sop I have waited 45 MINUTES to play ONE scene and don´t even get my credits!!!!

    4. This game is total impossible to play as it is now. Your devs better do something quick about all this or you will loose your players to similar games (Garden of Times) that is working better and gives energy to play.

    5. You support is not good. You haven´t replied to my e-mails. I have posted a log of bug-reports in you forum but nothing is done and after a while the thread is closed and deleted without even responding to us!!!!!

    6. Can you atleast change the energy to rise every 2 minutes and let us be abel to use ALL our energy in the inventory WHENEVER we want to!!!!!!
    PLUS, make the quick-find with our neighbours FREE.
    Then we may atleast be abel to play for a little while every now and then.

    7. I would appreciate iof you respond to my e-mails and to all the complains in your forum. Why do you wan´t us to post in your forum when you never respond to it or do something about the bug-reports anyway???

    8. You owe me $12 I have paid for a not working product. I am a customer and if I buy something that is not what it´sd supposed to be I have the right to get my money back.
    Please send the $12 to my facebook-account as facebook-credits.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Here's the deal with Zynga, in case anyone doesn't know:

    They LITERALLY have a division of their company devoted to playing other indie games for ideas to steal or flat-out copy games wholesale. It's no secret, they've been doing it for YEARS. Matter of fact, FarmVille is a perfect example.

    Anyway, they rip it off until someone raises a lawsuit, then settle out of court, while they make millions because of their brand name.

    Casual gamers have no idea what's going on, but they see the Zynga name and say, "Well, I liked all the other stuff they put out, so I'll buy it!" That's how they can sustain that business model.

    Buffalo is completely in the right for doing what they did, as are other companies in defending their right to prevent start-ups from attempting to become like Zynga. Where they fall short, in my opinion, is not bringing it to the attention of the casual gamers. They need to make more people aware of what companies like Zynga are doing so that perhaps the message of "That shit isn't cool, man" stick.

    So good on ya, Gabe, for posting.

    Also, to the guy above me, this ain't Zynga support, man.

    ReplyDelete
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