Kabam CEO Kevin Chou responded: “Kabam’s focus is to develop engaging, deeply immersive games on social platforms that core gamers will enjoy playing. The more clones there are for these games, the more they could sour consumers on the whole market.” We are fighting an uphill battle to create hardcore games on Facebook. “They crossed the line where it’s outright copying,” Harbin said. Join gaming leaders live this October 25-26 in San Francisco to examine the next big opportunities within the gaming industry. In this case, there are similarities with the game play, tutorial, building menu resources and a number of other things. But the way the game plays is virtually identical, Harbin said, as if it had been “re-skinned.” That means the developers took the same basic game and attached new art and a different story to it.

While Backyard Monsters is a battle that takes place between creatures on lawns, Edgeworld is a science fiction game that, on the surface, bears little resemblance. Harbin said accusations of copying are common but that he feels felt this case is particularly egregious because Edgeworld appears to copy a number of game mechanics from Backyard Monsters. Harbin said his company was tipped off by users who asked Kixeye rather than Kabam for support in Edgeworld, assuming the game was made by the same company that made the similar Backyard Monsters. Redwood City, Calif.-based Kabam said the game isn’t a copy, and it hasn’t yet officially released Edgeworld, which is still in beta testing.

Facebook games like backyard monsters