Social Developer Vostu Issues Massive Layoffs In Response To Zynga Settlement
February 16, 2012
Vostu, the Brazilian company behind social gaming hits like Candy Dash and Pet Mania, just laid off a significant portion of its development staff, most likely due to fallout from the recent settling of a Zynga copyright-infringement lawsuit.
Before you scoff at Zynga's hypocritical audacity, consider the case: Rather than aping general themes and gameplay structure (think Dream Heights or Words With Friends), Vostu was copying Zynga's titles verbatim, with near identical graphics and modal similarities, right down to actual bugs in the code!
Pretty skeezy, right?
You ain't seen nothin' yet. Check this out:
Copying is one thing. Copying and pasting is quite another.
That said, Vostu should survive the shakeup, as 25 percent of Brazilian internet users -- over 3.5 million folks monthly -- play the company's various online games. And hey, even for those freshly unemployed, things are looking up. I hear they've got just the skill set Samsung's after...
