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Tag: Candy Crush Saga

  • King releases statement on their opposition to The Banner Saga
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    King releases statement on their opposition to The Banner Saga

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    In this week's ongoing saga about King and their controversial "trademark trolling" of common dictionary words- oops, I just said the "s" word in that last sentence, I hope I don't need to call a lawyer now. Anyway, after the whole CANDY debacle on Monday, the internet then learned that King was also targeting recent indie darling The Banner Saga from Stoic as well, with reports claiming that the Viking-themed SRPG infringed upon the way the word "Saga" is a known extension of many of King's popular gaming brands.As you might expect, this story about King attacking The Banner Saga quickly spread like a wildfire across the gaming world, forcing King's PR department to make yet another statement to try and clear up all of the negative press about them. Spoiler alert: people are still disgusted. The latest statement reads:""King has not and is not trying to stop Banner Saga from using its name. We do not have any concerns that Banner Saga is trying build on our brand or our content. However, like any prudent company, we need to take all appropriate steps to protect our IP, both now and in the future."In this case, that means preserving our ability to enforce our rights in cases where other developers may try to use the Saga mark in a way which infringes our IP rights and causes player confusion. If we had not opposed Banner Saga's trade mark application, it would be much easier for real copy cats to argue that their use of 'Saga' was legitimate.
  • 17 great Twitter reactions to King’s trademark craziness
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    17 great Twitter reactions to King’s trademark craziness

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    If there's one word that's on the tip of everybody's tongues this week, it's CANDY. King trademarked the word in the EU and is trying to do the same in the US, and the internet has exploded as a result.If you've ever wanted to see what an exploded internet looks like, you need look no further than Twitter. The community has been quite vocal about King's trademarking actions this week - many even going so far as to add CANDY to their Twitter name in protest - and the @#$torm hasn't died down yet.It's been only two days since King's maneuvers first came to light (and one day since we learned about their opposition to The Banner Saga's trademark). Here's the best of what the internet has had to say about it:
  • King is opposing Stoic’s trademark for The Banner Saga
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    King is opposing Stoic’s trademark for The Banner Saga

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    Remember when you learned that King has a trademark on the word CANDY? It probably won't surprise you to learn that this isn't the only one-word trademark they want to hold. They've also applied for the trademark on the word SAGA, and they're not afraid to defend what they see as rightfully theirs.USGamer's Mike Williams has just brought to light a legal opposition filed on behalf of King in regards to The Banner Saga - a recent release and Kickstarter success that we're delighted to call an early contender for Game of the Year.  You can find the complete Notice of Opposition at the United States Patent and Trademark Office website, but the gist of it is this: Stoic, the makers of The Banner Saga, filed to trademark their game's name on January 10, 2013. After the mark was filed "published for opposition," King formally opposed. The argument King makes is that Stoic's use of the term SAGA will be enough to confuse customers into thinking the product isn't from Stoic, but from King. Furthermore, they claim that such confusion could result in damage to King.
  • Make a game to fight trademark trolling in Candy Jam
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    Make a game to fight trademark trolling in Candy Jam

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    If there's one word I'd use to describe independent game developers, it's… well, independent. They don't like being told what they can't do. So what a big company like King comes along and trademarks a word like 'candy,' indie game devs get understandably grumpy.In response to King's actions (which Gamezebo broke the news about on Monday), Cariboo (developer of the upcoming Berserkgangr) and uuav (check out their Ludum Dare entries here) have just launched Candy Jam, a game jam that tasks developers with making a game that involves candies. Why? "Because trademarking common names is ridiculous and it gives us an occasion to make another gamejam :D," or so says the Jam's Tumblr account.Interested developers must submit their games before the February 3 deadline. The only rules are that it has to have candy, and that you should consider using the word 'candy' several times. Bonus points for other trademark problem words like 'scroll,' 'memory,' 'saga,' and 'apple.'Also, there's always a high five from me if you get the word 'Gamezebo' or 'jimmycanuck' in there somewhere. ;)
  • King: We don’t enforce against all uses of CANDY
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    King: We don’t enforce against all uses of CANDY

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    On Monday morning, Gamezebo broke news of a story too strange to be believed. King, the makers of Candy Crush Saga, had trademarked the word CANDY. While this won't affect the likes of Skittles or SweeTarts, app developers whose games have 'candy' in their name braced for the oncoming storm.But according to a King spokesperson, that storm may not really be coming."We have trademarked the word 'CANDY' in the EU, as our IP is constantly being infringed and we have to enforce our rights and to protect our players from confusion. We don't enforce against all uses of CANDY - some are legitimate and of course, we would not ask App developers who use the term legitimately to stop doing so."
  • King has trademarked the word CANDY (and you’re probably infringing)
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    King has trademarked the word CANDY (and you’re probably infringing)

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    When you have an intellectual property - especially one that's worth millions of dollars - you want to protect it. But can such protections ever go too far? That's the question a lot of industry watchers are asking this morning, as developers far and wide whose games include the word 'candy' are getting emails from Apple on behalf of King, the makers of Candy Crush Saga.In a filing with the US trademark office dated February 6, 2013, King.com Limited registered claim to the word 'candy' as it pertains to video games and, strangely, clothing. On January 15, 2014 the filing was approved for publication. And now, a mere five days later, reports are coming in from developers that they're being asked to remove their app (or prove that their game doesn't infringe upon the trademark)."Lots of devs are frustrated cause it seems so ridiculous" says Benny Hsu, the maker of All Candy Casino Slots - Jewel Craze Connect: Big Blast Mania Land. Benny's game, which shares no similarities with King's properties aside from the word 'candy,' is one of a number of games that have been targeted by King. 
  • Games Like Candy Crush Saga
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    Games Like Candy Crush Saga

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    In our nice little corner of the gaming world, King's match-3 puzzle hybrid Candy Crush Saga has become the Grand Theft Auto V, the Beyoncé, and The New York Yankees all rolled up into one. Simply put, the game is huge. And when a new game manages to take the entire industry by storm like Candy Crush did, well you know what that means: tons of clones from other developers begin popping up to try and recapture the magic of the original.You've probably already played a game or two that was somewhat "like" Candy Crush Saga before, and so we thought it'd only be fitting to gather a list of some of the best like-minded experiences we've seen in one convenient place for you right here. And if you're ever planning on making your own match-3 game that plays like Candy Crush Saga, you'll want to include candy, jewels, or fruit, and throw in the word "mania" at the end of your title!
  • 2013 was the year of…
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    2013 was the year of…

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    Open-ended questions are tough. Depending on which lens you view the last year through, '2013 was the year of…' could be answered a lot of different ways. We can the last year through our personal experiences as gamers, as industry watchers, as developers, as financial analysts - everybody wears a different hat, and everyone's '2013 was' would be different.As the Editor-in-Chief of Gamezebo, these are mine. There's a mix of industry observation, personal feelings, and unavoidable truths - but what I really what to write about are YOUR thoughts on what 2013 was the year of. Unfortunately for me, the only one who can do that is you.Once you've read through my thoughts on the year, let us hear yours in the comments below! What do you think 2013 was the year of?