Zynga releases Pokemon-style game
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Social gaming house launches "battle monster" RPG Montopia, asking players to "Collect them all" and level them up.
Zynga's reputation as a copycat studio won't be reversed with the release of its newest game. The company today launched Montopia, a "battle monster" role-playing game that bears a number of resemblances to Nintendo's popular Pokemon series.
The game, available today as a free download for Android and iOS devices, asks players to "Collect them all," which is similar to Pokemon's iconic "Gotta catch 'em all" tag line. Additionally, Montopia has players collecting monsters--some bearing striking resemblances to Pokemon creatures--and building a team to battle other players.
As of press time, neither Nintendo nor Zynga had responded to GameSpot's requests for comment.
This is not the first time Zynga has created a game bearing resemblances to an established property. In January, indie developer Nimblebit released a tongue-in-cheek thank-you note directed to Zynga over similarities between its Tiny Tower and Zynga's Dream Heights.
Additionally, Zynga recently drew the ire of Electronic Arts, which is currently suing the company over claims that The Ville is a Sims Social clone. An EA representative said the case against Zynga is a matter of principle, and that the publisher was obligated to bring the suit because unlike many other operations that have alleged theft at Zynga's hands, EA "has the financial and corporate resources to stand up and do something about it."
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.
253 comments
How the flying hell is there a company that is making me root FOR ELECTRONIC-FREAKING-FRANCHISE-KILLING-ARTS?!?!
All Zynga do is copy other games and try to claim them like its there game.
Zynga ur games are cr*p. Stop stealing great games and making them sh*t!
Zynga is the definition of Greed.
I hope they disappear forever, dont support them
1 Like wtF! zynga are you like-....is it-......who-....does anyb-......do you at least take a DUMP on your own or do you wait for someone elses turds, scoop them up and throw them in your bowl then proceed to claim you feel 5 pounds lighter???? where does it end with you??? where??? when will YOUU end???
Giana Sisters developers started as a Mario rip off (though with cooler characters and music) and look what they are doing now: An original platformer, better than Mario
Yeah, but Zynga did a rip-off, and then another rip-off, and now apparently... another rip-off.
1 Like seriously zynga? are you trying to bankrupt yourself on getting sued for copyright infringement??
1 Like While this is a blatant rip off I highly doubt ANY Pokemon fans will play it. So Nintendo will be fine. Still, that's pretty shady ass crap from Zynga.
At least they have a good name! Some annoying Korean company has Cardmon!
Even thou it's a Pokemon rip, Nintendo will come along with their Pokemon version and then Zynga will copy it and Nintendo will sue like what EA is doing right now! Can't wait!
Lawsuit ???? i tough nintendo make a patent on these game styles , just like Katamary have one.
4 Like Zynga rhymes with the Swedish word for crap - "dynga". I think it's an appropriate rhyme.
@Apastron The hate object of your hate object might not be something you like (as in the saying "the enemy of my enemy is my friend"), but in this case I also say "Go EA!".
@Hurvl @Apastron The problem is, if EA wins, where does that leave the game industry?
Think about it. If no one is allowed to use someones idea and improve off of it, then this industry will fall apart. Granted, Zynga never did improve crap, but EA is worse than Zynga really. Zynga may copy tons of games, but its the casual market, its not the hardcore market. There are tons of copied games in that market, and the only reason Zynga gets targeted is because they make the most money on it.
EA however copies games as well, but are thoroughly hated and blamed for this disgusting overfilled market of shooters. Sure, some good games come from EA, but in the end, EA didn't do anything but fund the games, and even then I feel bad for the devs because EA tacks on loads of BS that the consumer has to deal with. Now if EA wins this case, you know what that does to this industry?
Well, it will rid a lot of shooters, but in the same respect, which shooters will vanish. Either CoD will die, or BF will die. Medal of Honor will have to hope it can got back to WW2, and dont even get me started on MMOs. If EA wins this case, much akin to the Apple Vs Samsung case, then EA wins..period, we lose.
If zynga wins, it gets away with copying much like every other company in the indie market does, and the hardcore market. I can live with clones, but I can't live without variety. This industry requires you to wade through the crap to find a good game. What happens when that good game uses some ideas from another good game, and is therefore removed entirely because it copied even a little bit.
Root for Zynga, not for EA. Because in reality, this is a lose lose situation for the consumer, but not for the companies. Its better to root for the lesser of two evils than to root for the one evil because it stands up for whats wrong in this industry.
@Destrond What we root for won't change anything, the judges dealing out a sentence to this suit won't be influenced by our rooting.This lawsuit is out of our control.
EA "got away" with Origin (since it's not a commercial failure) and I think they'll get away with this as well. Although EA might cut down on the lawsuits if they suffer enough public backlash, I think that it would take a lot for that to happen. They're already a hated company and still they are one of the biggest game companies in the industry. What we personally root for won't change their business strategies as long they don't suffer commercial failures or epic amounts of hate. I don't generally like EA, I just said that on this occasion I say "Go EA!", because they have the resources to take Zynga into court.
As for personal opinions, I think it's good that Zynga gets sued for such a blatant copying. Being inspired by a game is one thing, being almost a direct copy is another. It can sometimes be hard to distinguish one from the other, but I think this is a clear case of rip-off.
I don't agree that copying games for one market is worse/better than copying games for another market. Hardcore gamers might not care about the abundance of clones in the casual market, but that doesn't make the copying any more okay. Variety is the opposite of making blatant copies and although I agree that some companies have far too much of a trigger-happy suing finger, suing for something minor which could effect variety on the same theme, I think this suit is justified, because of the striking resemblances between these games and others Zynga has copied.
Wow... Zynga is really digging their own grave between this, EA, and everything else they produce.
Zynga now seems almost as bad as those evony people. It's sad to think of whats all become of the once shunned gaming universe we kept away from corrupt corporations for so long. Remember the days when all the game companies would pour their heart and souls into a making a game they dreamed of? To be told it was the greatest game in the world? Now it's all about rehashes,remakes,web games, and cheap $1 iphone games all to just make a greedy profit.
@jmefford actually an upside down pentagram is a satanic symbol this one is right side up
@jmefford upside down pentagram supposed to resemble the goat head and is satanic.The one shown in the name is supposed to ward of bad spirits and is used in black and white magic.
They're smart. Now they have hundreds of lawyers to defend that freaking ridiculous Zynga, just like they've done with many other indies that got stabbed by them. I hope the bigs just unite themselves to erase that... well, it's hard to talk about zynga without offend it.
1 Like I just downloaded it and it terrible, It wasnt even fun plus the battles are stupid. All it shows is a bunch of flashes then its over. It reminded me of the season 3 finale of Heroes. Nathan and Syler begin their fight, doors close and all you see are lightning flashes, doors open and Nathan is dead. And NBC wonders why that showed failed after season 1 lol.
2 Like Pokemon my ass...this game sucks! It's an insult to even think this is a pokemon clone!
2 Like Just watched the trailer on youtube, the game looks terrible so I doubt Nintendo will care
This comment has been deleted
2 Like ive actually downloaded this and it is fricking rubbish. its not like pokemon at all. only thing nintendo can sue for is the catchphrase and the monster images
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