And The Sixth Seal Opened, And Lo, Lawyers Poured From The Dark Places Of The Earth
"Your move, Mark."
This is kinda a big deal. Zynga's somewhat loose respect for intellectual property of game design has been an open secret for quite some time. Now it's going to be legally tested. To quote EA's unusually well-crafted public statement on the matter:
Maxis isn’t the first studio to claim that Zynga copied its creative product. But we are the studio that has the financial and corporate resources to stand up and do something about it.
Or Zynga is going to give EA a LOT of money. Which at the moment is not a pleasant prospect.
Zynga's response: "noobs"
It’s unfortunate that EA thought that this was an appropriate response to our game, and clearly demonstrates a lack of understanding of basic copyright principles. It’s also ironic that EA brings this suit shortly after launching SimCity Social which bears an uncanny resemblance to Zynga’s CityVille game.
If you'd like to be Armchair Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer, the actual complaint is here.