Zynga lawsuit against former CityVille GM moves forward, Kixeye responds
The next legal battle for Zynga is one that it started, and it looks like it could go all the way to court, based on a statement released by the CityVille maker. Zynga has filed suit against Alan Patmore, a former general manager for CityVille who left to serve as War Commander creator Kixeye's VP of product, but allegedly took numerous trade secrets with him. Here's Zynga deputy general counsel Jay Monahan's statement:
Today, the Court ruled in our favor by continuing the temporary restraining order against Mr. Patmore, including anyone acting in concert with him. The Court also ordered three additional categories of relief in favor of Zynga ordering (1) expedited deposition of Patmore, (2) forensics of Patmore's work issued computer, personal computer and iPhone and (3) forensics of Patmore's personal Dropbox account. Patmore does not dispute that he took 763 files from Zynga, which contained confidential game designs from teams around the company, and that he transferred those files to his computer at Kixeye where he's currently the VP of Product. We are pleased with the judge's decision and will continue to work to protect the ideas and assets of our employees.
Despite the case heading to trial, according to VentureBeat, Kixeye CEO Will Harbin (who recently had to deal with some internal trouble of his own) still had some things to say--some harsh things at that. "Zynga is burning to the ground and bleeding top talent and instead of trying to fix the problems-better work environment and better products-they are resorting to the only profit center that has ever really worked for them: their legal department," Harbin told VentureBeat. "It is simply another case of Zynga vindictively persecuting a former employee as an individual."
Harbin went on the mention the supposed vast differences between Zynga and Kixeye in terms of gameplay mechanisms and how much revenue their respective games bring in. But considering the company has gone on the record with its intent on focusing more on player versus player games in the future, it will be interesting to see the specifics that come out of this case, if any.
Are you interested in seeing where Zynga goes with this lawsuit and its PvP focus? What do you think of Kixeye's response? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.
