Zynga And EA Settle Legal Battle Over ‘Unmistakable Copy’ Of The Sims And ‘Anti-Competitive’ Practices

4698008083_3dda2efb6b_zAccording to InsideSocialGames, Zynga and EA have settled their legal dispute over the former’s alleged copying of EA’s popular game “The Sims.” It was clear to many that once Zynga started teasing “The Ville,” it took some major elements from EA’s classic. A source has told TechCrunch that no money has exchanged hands as part of the settlement. At the time of the lawsuit, companies threw barbs back and forth with EA alleging that Zynga “doesn’t understand copyright.” Details as to what the terms of the settlement are haven’t been made available, but we’ve reached out to both companies, and people familiar with the case, for more information. At one point, Zynga countersued for “anti-competitive” practices, turning this into an online gaming bloodbath of epic proportions. Things quieted down since August, and today it appears that everything is resolved. At least legally. EA and Zynga spokespeople have issued the following statement on the matter, which is clearly a part of the settlement: EA and Zynga have resolved their respective claims and have reached a settlement of their litigation in the Northern District of California. Here is the copy of the proposal to dimiss the case, via AllThingsD: eavszynga This is developing. [Photo credit: Flickr]

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Zynga To Shut Down Three More Games (Including CityVille 2), Promises Slower Launch Cycle In 2013

cityville 2During this afternoon’s fourth-quarter earnings call, Zynga announced three more game shutdowns — CityVille 2, Party Friends, and The Friend Game.

The most notable closure was probably CityVille 2, since it was the sequel to what was once Zynga’s biggest hit. However, the game’s traffic has plummeted. COO David Ko blamed some of CityVille 2’s failure on a lack of lead time to properly test the game.

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Zynga’s Pincus Says FarmVille Has Passed $1B In Total Player Purchases

FarmVille_logoThe launch of FarmVille 2 was one of the big highlights of Zynga’s past year, but CEO Mark Pincus said its predecessor FarmVille crossed major milestone too, having reached $1 billion in total player bookings.

Seeing an old game reach cross the $1 billion mark may not tell us much about Zynga’s future or current finances, but it still seems appropriate (or symbolic, or something) that FarmVille crossed that line as the focus shifts to its sequel. Speaking of that sequel, Zynga had said a month ago that the game had 40 million monthly active users and 8 million daily active users. Today it also said that bookings from the game had exceeded Zynga’s predictions by 100 percent. And Pincus said FarmVille 2 will be coming to mobile this year.

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Zynga’s Q4 Beats, Revenue Flat At $311M, Net Income Swings To A Loss Of $48.6M

zynga logoZynga’s revenue was flat year-over-year amid a tough fourth quarter that saw layoffs and a continuing series of executive and mid-level departures.

The company’s revenues came in at $311 million and the net loss was $48.6 million for the quarter, with non-GAAP earnings at 1 cent per share. Analysts had estimated that Zynga’s fourth quarter revenue would come in at $212.1 million with a loss of 3 cents per share. Bookings were down 15 percent year-over-year, to $261 million.

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Game Over: Zynga Shuts Down PetVille And 10 Other Titles To Cut Costs

medium_ab275234159e1c1295fc7431880c6361Executing the cost reduction plan CEO Mark Pincus announced in November, Zynga has shut down, pulled from the app stores, or stopped accepting new players to eleven games, with some turning off today. The gaming giant will reallocate resources to more successful titles as well as creating new ones. Along with layoffs, the shutdowns are part of the hard road to recovery for Zynga.

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Zynga Confirms It Will Close Its Japan Operation At The End Of January As Consolidation Continues To Bite The Social Gaming Company

Zynga Lonely DogSocial gaming giant Zynga has now confirmed that it will be closing down its Japan operation, as it continues to consolidate its operations and cut less profitable parts of its business. The spectre of pulling out of that market was first raised in October when the company laid off 5% of its employees. Today, the CEO of the Japan operation, Kenji Matsubara, posted the news confirming the closure, (ironically) on Facebook, the social network that has been so closely tied to Zynga’s rise and fall.

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Zynga’s Exclusivity Deal With Facebook Is Done, But Its SVP Says Friends Aren’t Everything

Zynga Lonely DogYou’re a poker shark. Your friends aren’t. If you play with them you’ll just crush them and it won’t be any fun. That’s why Zynga’s SVP of mobile Travis Boatman seems unphased by the end of the game giant’s exclusivity deals with Facebook. Today at the Mobile-Loco Conference in San Francisco he said “There’s a lot of people who play games and want to connect socially who don’t want to use Facebook.”

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Zynga Makes First Move Towards Gambling In Nevada, Says Process Will Take More Than A Year

zynga logoZynga has applied for a “preliminary finding of suitability” from the Nevada Gaming Control Board, which the first step towards offering real-money gambling games in that state.

The news broke in the Wall Street Journal, and Zynga has confirmed it, though it notes that the process will take 12 to 18 months, and says that it sees gambling in the “broader U.S. market” as “further out on the horizon based on legislative developments.” The company also repeated that it plans to launch first effort in real-money gambling ( a partnership in the United Kingdom with bwin.party) during the first half of 2013.

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