Zynga Caught Plagiarizing, More Complaints to Follow?

The floodgates are about to be opened. Zynga ZNGA is being publicly accused of copying the work of another game developer. Imagine that! The worst developer in social gaming – which may be losing $150 on every new customer (or making $100, depending on who you talk to) – has turned out to be nothing more than an everyday thief. I, for one, am stunned! But just in case my level of sarcasm has been lost in the verbal-to-text transition, let me be clear: there is nothing surprising about this discovery. From the moment Zynga was founded, the company grew its business by copying the likes of Harvest Moon. If you haven't heard of Harvest Moon before, look it up. It is the original FarmVille, and contrary to Zynga's lousy knock-off, Harvest Moon is actually fun. Unlike the creators of Harvest Moon, however, the developers of Tiny Tower are not staying silent. Developed by NimbleBit, Tiny Tower was released for the iOS platform in 2011. It went on to become the official iOS Game of the Year, as chosen by Apple's AAPL own panel. According to TechCrunch, Zynga was so impressed with NimbleBit's work that it attempted to acquire the three-man studio. But NimbleBit chose to remain independent. This inspired Zynga to create its own version of Tiny Tower: a game called Dream Heights. Now NimbleBit is fighting back with a hilariously awesome image that compares the two games (all the while jabbing Zynga with a mock congratulations):

NimbleBit's complaint isn't likely to have a negative impact on Zynga's stock. Right now, the only investors that are interested in Zynga either believe that the company's business model will eventually work (they're wrong – it won't!), or that gambling will be legalized and Zynga will be able to transform its business into a gambling empire. Considering the fact that some experts already feel that Zynga's games appeal to the same psychology as gambling, that doesn't seem like too far of a stretch. But the stars would have to be aligned on that one, and there are no guarantees that online gambling will be allowed in the United States. And even if it is, Zynga will then have to successfully penetrate an entirely new market of consumers – one that is actually willing to part with its money. Right now, the majority of Zynga's players don't spend a dime. Nonetheless, some investors have faith in this venture. They assume that if it works, they'll cash in big time. Thus, investors are unlikely to care about the fact that all of Zynga's games are crappy clones of existing products. But they should care. Zynga's products are not to be taken lightly. Consumers constantly complain about cheap, imported knock-offs of Product X or Product Z. But when the garbage is homegrown, they shut up and take it. Considering the fact that Zynga has gotten away with plagiarism before (Marvelous Interactive, the studio behind Harvest Moon, has yet to file a complaint), the social game publisher is likely to continue down this path in the future. Zynga may have acquired some fresh talent last year, but that doesn't mean the company has any interest in putting those men and women to work. Instead of being hired to lead the company in a new direction, it seems as though Mark Turmell (the creator of NBA Jam and NFL Blitz) was tasked with following the company's dated blueprint. Follow me @LouisBedigian