iMob Online going to court against Mafia Wars
Rival iPhone gangs battle it out over mafia games
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.
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