Candy Dash maker Vostu axes staff after Zynga cloning settlement

One way or another, it looks like Zynga got its revenge. TechCrunch reports that Brazilian social game maker Vostu has been forced to lay off an undisclosed amount of employees since settling with Zynga over allegedly copycatting games. It's also unknown just how much Vostu was ordered to pay Zynga for whatever damages, but it must have been substantial.

Vostu has confirmed the layoffs to TechCrunch: "Vostu grew a significant amount in the last 18 months and is constantly focused on improving efficiency for future growth which includes select and strategic hiring. We are consolidating our game design and development at our new headquarters in Buenos Aires."

Despite rapidly releasing new games from new in-house developers, TechCrunch guesses that the legal fees accumulated during its battle with Zynga could simply be too much to handle. That's a likely cause, as the company has raised just $46 million in 2011, a large chunk of which could now be needed to pay off the almighty Zynga.

Vostu isn't the only Latin American game creator suffering. CoCo Girl maker MetroGames faces a lawsuit from its former employees over payment issues. This isn't to say the two are related, but what's interesting is whatever is plaguing the Latin American social games scene isn't about finding an audience. It's far more complicated.

[Via Gamasutra]

Are you surprised that Vostu had to lay off some of its employees? Are you a fan of any of Vostu's games on Facebook or Orkut? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.