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Austin-developed ‘Zynga Bingo,’ still in closed beta, is already controversial
“Zynga Bingo,” the first game to be released by the social gaming powerhouse’s Austin studio, has a lot riding on it. It will join the company’s long running “Zynga Poker” as part of a new franchise called “Zynga Casino.”
Members of the Austin team traveled to California to be at the company’s San Francisco’s headquarters for the launch of the game last week, when the game was released in closed beta to invitees for testing before it goes wide to the rest of the gaming world.
Like most of Zynga’s game, this Facebook title will allow players to interact with their online friends, boost up the game with power-ups and kill time in an easy-to-play, tough-to-master format.
But before the game has even gone into public release, it’s already attracting attention in ways Zynga can’t be enjoying. It has been accused by a company called Buffalo Studios of plagiarizing the design of a game called “Bingo Blitz.”
It’s the second time the company has been accused of aping someone else’s game design recently; another company called NimbleBit said that Zynga’s game “Tower Heights” bears quite a resemblance to that company’s “Tiny Tower.”
On Venturebeat today, Zynga CEO Mark Pincus fired back about the copycat accusations, saying that gaming companies like his typically build upon the successes of existing games, improving the formula to make better gaming experiences. Venturebeat also printed an email Pincus sent to Zynga employees about the controversy.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: Austin, Videogames
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By SGupta
February 1, 2012 8:59 AM | Link to this
All zynga games are shady. Never pay money for chips or credits. Total scam the way these games are coded.
By Henry
January 31, 2012 4:55 PM | Link to this
What did Zynga do in 'Zynga Bingo' to actually improve upon 'Bingo Blitz'? Same question goes for how they improved 'Dream Heights' over 'Tiny Tower'. Besides bringing superior marketing to a game, did Zynga actually make a better game as they claim? Serious questions. I have never played a Zynga game.