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Zynga settles up over PyramidVille dispute

Kobojo Likes the resolution

Zynga settles up over PyramidVille dispute
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Social gaming giant Zynga has settled with developer Kobojo over the use of 'Ville' in the title of one of Kobojo's games.

Kobojo launched PyramidVille on Facebook earlier in the year, followed by a mobile version called PyramidVille Adventures. This prompted Zynga - creator of mega-hits like FarmVille and CityVille - to file a lawsuit on May 15th.

Zynga was seeking damages of around three times the profits Kobojo has received for the game. Needless to say, that would have been very bad news indeed for the smaller party.

All's well that ends with Ville

Fortunately, both companies appear to have settled their differences out of court. Even better news - it didn't cost Kobojo a penny.

"Although the terms of the parties' settlement are confidential, the parties can confirm that neither party made any payment as part of the settlement," a Kobojo spokesman told Gamasutra.

However, Kobojo has changed the name of PyramidVille to PyramidValley, while the mobile version is now called PyramidValley Adventures.

Happy days, then? Perhaps not. PyramidValley has dropped in popularity in a big way - from around 3 million monthly active users at its peak to around 430,000 now.

Jon Mundy
Jon Mundy
Jon is a consummate expert in adventure, action, and sports games. Which is just as well, as in real life he's timid, lazy, and unfit. It's amazing how these things even themselves out.