Hasbro and its Backflip mobile games division have settled a lawsuit that alleged the companies copied Peak Games‘ Toy Blast when they launched My Little Pony: Puzzle Party.
In October, Istanbul-based Peak Games sued Hasbro and Backflip, alleging they stole the Turkish game publisher’s Toy Blast, using the same basic game design and similar imagery. My Little Pony: Puzzle Party also allegedly lifted original content and level designs as well as numerical scores that Peak selected to provide a balance between challenges and achievements. Copycat games are an epidemic on mobile devices, but this one is unusual in that it involves a couple of Western companies. Most of the copycats happen in Asia.
Peak Games is the largest game company in Turkey, with titles that include both regional Middle Eastern fare such as Okey Plus and worldwide games such as Spades Plus and Gin Rummy Plus.
In a statement issued today, Hasbro said, “Peak Games has sued defendants Hasbro, Inc. and Backflip Studios, LLC, alleging that their game My Little Pony: Puzzle Party, infringes Peak Games’s copyrights. The parties have agreed to a confidential settlement of the dispute. Hasbro and Backflip Studios acknowledge their respect for Peak Games’s intellectual property rights in Toy Blast. Hasbro and Backflip Studios have agreed to take down the My Little Pony: Puzzle Party game.
Meanwhile, Peak Games said it is pleased the litigation against Hasbro and Backflip has been “amicably resolved.” Measurement firm Sensor Tower said that Hasbro’s knockoff of Toy Blast was downloaded about three million times before it was removed. Toy Blast had about 52 million downloads and 700 times as much revenue.