Zynga vs Vostu: Brazilian developer fires back with a lawsuit of its own

And the saga of Zynga vs Vostu continues, as Vostu, the Brazilian social game developer, has filed a countersuit against Zynga after being sued by the gaming juggernaut last June. As a recap, Zynga sued Vostu for copyright infringement, after Vostu's MegaCity was shown to have incredibly similar designs and gameplay elements to Zynga's CityVille, which was released four months prior.

Not willing to take these serious accusations lying down, today Vostu filed a countersuit against Zynga stating the company has no right to "claim copyright over the design of everyday objects and places, including barns, farms and chairs." As reported by the NY Times, Vostu also goes on to call out Zynga for copying many designs from other games in the past as well.

But it's not just Zynga or Vostu that seem to have found the copy and paste mechanic, as Vostu compiled images showing release dates and screenshots of popular city-building and cafe games. Starting with Playdom's Social City in March of 2010, we see games from all sorts of developers, including Quepasa and Gamester, releasing similar games that all allow for the design of a fairly identical city using in-game items.

As for the restaurant games, the similarities are just as striking. Taking a cue from Playfish's Restaurant City, Zynga, Vostu, You Dong Network and Metrogames all released similarly themed cafe games, as seen below.

While this might seem like Vostu is incriminating itself by including its own games in these comparisons, it seems instead that it's simply trying to show that Zynga shouldn't be allowed to throw its weight around, when it's just as guilty of "borrowing" ideas. What's more, Vostu's suit claims that Zynga went so far as to entering into talks with the company over a potential partnership that would see Vostu revealing information about how Zynga could branch into the Brazilian social gaming market, but these talks quickly dissolved and Vostu was sued shortly thereafter.

While this entire legal drama seems to have spawned from the phrase "pot calling the kettle black," it is promising to see a smaller company standing up to Zynga (and its surely massive legal team). With all of these examples to back it up, could Vostu actually turn things around and win this thing, or at least force Zynga to quietly crawl away from the courtroom? As this drama is sure to continue to unfold, we'll make sure to let you know what comes of it.

Scam Alert: 'Zynga Promotions' is not RewardVille, but another scam

And here we thought after the short lull in scammerous scammery that the scammers might have taken the hint. Nay, as Scribbal has found yet another scam revolving around FarmVille, CityVille and something called "Zynga Promotions." FarmVille and CityVille players have found a post in their News Feeds from their friends that reads, "FarmVille rewards to be had if you open this." First of all, the so-called promotion looks nothing like an official Zynga message much less one from either FarmVille or CityVille. But it gets better.

Clicking on the link, which you absolutely shouldn't do, takes players to a website that uses Zynga's RewardVille artwork, lettering and other assets. Then the website provides a link that claims, if you share the link enough times through not just Facebook, but Twitter and email, you will be rewarded with a unique expansion. Sharing it 100 times will reward you with a vehicle that plants faster than any other, or an Energy Cow that refills your Energy every 10 minutes. While those rewards sound totally awesome, they're totally fake, and should be avoided at all costs.

Zynga promotions scam
The whole point of the scam is get you to download bot programs, or automated gameplay programs that run on repeating scripts, which more than likely are attached to malware that isn't worth the benefit. Not to mention it's cheating and in violation of Zynga's Terms of Service agreement. So, again, do your friends and yourself a favor and not only avoid this scam at all costs, but warn your friends and family, too.

[Image Credit: Scribbal]

Have you seen this scam circulating Facebook yet? What do you normally do when you come in contact with a scam?

CityVille Most Valuable Palace allows your citizens to live like MVPs

It looks like one final item has been added to the sports theme of items in CityVille, in the form of a new house that's only available for a very, very limited time (we're talking less than a day). The MVP - Most Valuable Palace home costs a whopping 80 City Cash to add to your town, but it adds an equally large figure of 2,500 citizens to your town.

If you're lucky enough to have that number upgraded through random boosts (remember, your friends "tending" to the home can trigger those same boosts), you can eventually raise that 2,500 number to 4,500 citizens! That's a huge group of MVPs (how will they all share that tiny basketball court?)! Once you've built this one (it takes up just a 5x5 square), it will generate 494 coins and can be collected from once each day.

Again, this is an incredibly limited time offer. In the time you're reading this, the house is slipping farther and farther out of your grasp, so what are you waiting for?! If you have any interest in this one whatsoever, head into the store before it expires (perhaps for good).

Is 80 City Cash too much to pay for a single home, even one with such impressive stats? Will you purchase the MVP - Most Valuable Palace for your city in CityVille?

Zynga partners with Pizza Hut across CityVille, FarmVille and more

Zynga isn't a stranger to charitable donations, so it comes as no surprise that the major developer has launched another charity project across four of its Facebook games this weekend. This promotion comes by way of a partnership with Pizza Hut, in an effort to "share a slice of hope" with the World Hunger Relief campaign.

Specifically, this promotion is available through the company's RewardVille rewards program, and offers a single prize in FarmVille, CityVille, Pioneer Trail and Empires & Allies. For each donation of $5 US or more, you'll receive your choice of one of the four items. Here's a rundown of what's available:

FarmVille: Food Wagon
CityVille: Nutrition Center
Empires & Allies: Farm
Pioneer Trail: Merino Sheep


To be especially clear, you must contribute at least $5 to the cause to be eligible for a prize, and you'll only receive a single prize (of your choosing) for each donation. If you play all four of these games and want all four prizes, you'll need to make five separate donations (for a minimum of $20 in total).

This promotion is set to run from September 25 (now) and October 31, giving you plenty of time to make a few donations if you choose. Here's the link to the donation site if you'd like to help out.

Will you donate to the Pizza Hut and Zynga World Hunger Relief event? Which of the four items are you going after, or will you donate enough to earn multiple items? Sound off in the comments.