News

iMob Online going to court against Mafia Wars

Rival iPhone gangs battle it out over mafia games

iMob Online going to court against Mafia Wars
|
| iMob Online

The creator of the Facebook gaming phenomenon Mob Wars, David Maestri, is no stranger to court battles when it comes to his mafia-based adventure title. He’s already gone through a few rounds to debate the game’s ownership with his former employer SGN, and now he’s taking on the boss of Zynga due to the similarity of its iPhone game Mafia Wars to iMob Online (the iPhone version of Mob Wars).

It has to be said that the two games, of which Mafia Wars appeared second, are immensely similar in design and content. This isn’t a particularly unique sub-genre, however, so it’s unlikely to be an open and shut (violin) case.

Mob Wars is believed to bring in around $1 million a month to Maestri’s studio, Psycho Monkey, so he’s undoubtedly going to defend this valuable property quite vigorously. Of course, Mafia Wars isn’t alone in its similarity to iMob Online, so the outcome of the court case could have some far reaching consequences.

If all this is a bit new to you, feel free to jump in and join the Pocket Gamer iMob mafia, and we'll protect you.

Spanner Spencer
Spanner Spencer
Yes. Spanner's his real name, and he's already heard that joke you just thought of. Although Spanner's not very good, he's quite fast, and that seems to be enough to keep him in a regular supply of free games and away from the depressing world of real work.