Zynga and Electronic Arts have settled their mud slinging legal battles about whose social games ripped off whose, Gamasutra reports. Both EA's initial claim that Zynga took a bit too much inspiration from The Sims Social in making The Ville, and Zynga's countersuit that EA used anti-competitive employment practices against the company, have been dismissed.
The suit, which began in August, had the potential to set some serious judicial precedent for the long-standing practice of cloning games, which stretches all the way back to unlicensed Pac-Man dupes. EA went so far as to call upon other studios Zynga allegedly ripped off, claiming it would bear the shield for its smaller, less-lawyered cousins.
With the two San Francisco-based publishers settling out of court, legal ambiguity remains. It's doubtful that we'll ever know the specifics of the settlement, but one source who spoke to Gamasutra claimed the social giant was ''pleased."
