Candy Crush dev King sues 6waves over game cloning

Candy Crush developer King is suing 6waves for allegedly cloning two of its leading titles.

As reported by Venturebeat, the firm has filed a lawsuit with the US District Court in San Francisco, claiming that the publisher has copied key aspects of its games Pet Rescue Saga and Farm Heroes Saga in Treasure Epic and Farm Epic.

King CEO Riccardo Zacconi said 6waves had gone “well beyond” using its titles for inspiration, and branded Farm Epic an “unmistakable copy” of Farm Heroes Saga.

He called such alleged cloning practices not just a threat to the company, but to the entire industry.

“6Waves went well beyond simply using King’s ideas for inspiration; they copied the original and creative expression that our employees worked very hard to develop,” said Zacconi.

“We invest heavily in the creative and technical processes that go into creating such unique games. We welcome fair competition but developers that simply mimic our products severely inhibit our ability to put vibrant and fun games in front of our players. Such practices pose a threat not just to us, but to the entire game industry.”

In response to the lawsuit, 6waves denied the allegations of game cloning, and said puzzle solving games and popular themes such as farming were not unique.

“6waves cannot provide detailed comments at this stage but we deny all allegations of the copyright infringement complaint by King,” read the statement

“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.”

To back its claims, King also presented some screenshots which is claims show how 6waves has copied the look and feel of its titles. You can view the images below.

6waves has been in hot water over cloning allegations before after Spry Fox called Yeti Town a “blatant copy” of its own game, Triple Town.

The matter was eventually settled out of court, with Spry Fox awarded the ownership of the Yeti Town IP.