Zynga, gaming giant of the Facebook and now mobile enterprise, has had its ups and downs in the creative realm with violation of competition by scamming of ideas and then hiding behind the law as they dominate the alternative. Zynga’s latest target is NimbleBit, a 3-person team behind many popular iOS games including Sky Burger, Scoops, and Zynga victim Tiny Tower.
Tiny Tower, a tower sim game, has been threatened by Zynga’s new Dream Heights, another tower sim that takes from Tiny Tower as far as the eye can see. Dream Heights uses an interface a little less 8-bit but still straight from NimbleBit’s book. A typical ruler vs. underdog battle, but NimbleBit’s reaction (while sarcastic) was far from hostile.
NimbleBit thanked Zynga for their admiration of Tiny Tower and wished Zynga best of luck with Dream Heights and other Zynga ventures to come that might begin with inspiration by another NimbleBit game. The “Dear Zynga” approach is a great way for NimbleBit to get the attention they deserve and Zynga the bad press they deserve without any cost. Go get ‘em NimbleBit!
