Zynga blasted after launching Tiny Tower clone
Indie developer NimbleBit claims it refused Zynga buy-out.
Casual gaming behemoth Zynga has been blasted by Tiny Tower creator NimbleBit following the launch of new Zynga title Dream Heights.
Dream Heights appears to be a virtual clone of Tiny Tower, which tasks players with adding floors of shops and apartments to an ever-expanding towerblock.
"Dear Zynga, (all 2,789 of you)," an open letter from NimbleBit begins.
"We noticed you are about to launch a new iPhone game called Dream Heights! Congratulations! We wanted to thank all you guys for being such big fans of our iPhone game of the year Tiny Tower!
"Good luck with your game, we are looking forward to inspiring you with our future games!
"Sincerely, (all 3 of us), NimbleBit."
NimbleBit's letter, reproduced below, is accompanied by a selection of screenshots comparing the studio's own Tiny Tower to Farmville outfit Zynga's Dream Heights.
Zynga's decision to release Dream Heights (live now, although so far only in Canada) apparently comes after three-man band NimbleBit refused to be bought out by the Mafia Wars giant.
"Even when you refuse to go work for Zynga, sometimes you end up doing work for Zynga anyway," NimbleBit co-founder David Marsh tweeted. "They did go the honest route and try to acquire us first," Marsh later added.
Tiny Tower launched in June last year and has quickly acquired a huge following. NimbleBit's creation has notched up eight million iPhone downloads and more than one million on Android. Apple crowned the game its US iPhone Game of the Year for 2011.
