Earlier today, the makers of mobile gaming blockbuster Tiny Tower published the kind of open letter loved by video gaming’s instantly and constantly angry fuck-the-man constituency, not least because it can be disseminated by imgur. It alleged that Zynga, the popularly despised maker of Facebook McGames, stole Tiny Tower‘s idea and was reaping a dishonest profit from it.
https://lastchance.cc/zynga-totally-rips-off-tiny-tower-5879046%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
In this rebuttal, we’re reminded that NimbleBit’s jackpot moneymaker wasn’t exactly divinely inspired, either. It seems to have drawn on Corporation Inc., a very popular title hosted by Armor Games. Nor, admittedly, was Corporation Inc. entirely original. The difference is, Corporation Inc. acknowledged its heritage in its credits—and it comes from a title published by Maxis, now owned by that indie outfit Electronic Arts.
But why is this even an issue? Copying isn’t theft, remember?
