Zynga, which was accused by Electronic Arts of copyright infringement, lashed back with its response to the lawsuit.
Zynga counterclaimed that EA interfered with its recruitment of EA employees.
Zynga argued that The Ville was not a copy of EA's The Sims Social. It countersued EA stating the company engaged in unlawful actions, including anti-competitive business practices and no-hire agreements. Under Californian law, it is an offence to restrict employees from working at a rival's company.
"Today we responded to EA's claims which we believe have no merit," said Reggie Davis, general counsel of Zynga, in a statement. "We also filed a counterclaim which addresses actions by EA we believe to be anticompetitive and unlawful business practices, including legal threats and demands for no-hire agreements. We look forward to getting back to focusing all our efforts on delighting our players."
Zynga claims that the copyright lawsuit by EA was targeted to discourage employees moving away from EA.
It also said that YoVille, the people's simulation game debuted in 2008, much before EA's The Sims Social was launched on Facebook in 2011. Zynga also said that the life simulation genre was not invented by EA, adding that Activision invented it with their Little Computer People in 1985.
Zynga still remains the top social games company on Facebook and has also recruited many top EA managers. When EA launched its Sims Social, it took away tens of millions of players from Zynga's turf.
EA filed its lawsuit against Zynga in August in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco alleging that Zynga's The Ville was an "unmistakable copy" of EA's The Sims Social.
In the lawsuit filing, Zynga said:
Zynga was told by EA's legal team that Mr. Riccitiello had instructed them to obtain a no-hire agreement from Zynga that prohibited Zynga's future hiring of EA employees. Absent such agreement, Mr. Riccitiello would direct a lawsuit to be filed against Zynga 'knowing there was no basis and even though he loses.'
EA was quick to reply to allegations. All Things D reported John Reseburg, EA spokesman, as saying, "This is a predictable subterfuge aimed at diverting attention from Zynga's persistent plagiarism of other artists and studios. Zynga would be better served trying to hold onto the shrinking number of employees they've got, rather than suing to acquire more."
