So much so, that I have hundreds of instances of actual confusion from users who think CandySwipe is Candy Crush Saga, or that CandySwipe is a Candy Crush Saga knock-off. Two years after I released CandySwipe, you released Candy Crush Saga on mobile the app icon, candy pieces, and even the rewarding, ‘Sweet!’ are nearly identical. In fact, if you beat the full version of the Android game, you will still get the message saying ‘…the game was made in memory of my mother, Layla…’ I created this game for warm-hearted people like her and to help support my family, wife and two boys 10 and four. I released CandySwipe in 2010 five months after she passed and I made it because she always liked these sorts of games. Gamasutra has reached out to King for comment on Ransom's letter, and will update the story with any meaningful response.Anyway, here’s Ransom’s open letter to King:Ĭongratulations! You win! I created my game CandySwipe in memory of my late mother who passed away at an early age of 62 of leukaemia. Before we launch any game, we do a thorough search of other games in the marketplace, as well as a review of trademark filings, to ensure that we are not infringing anyone else’s IP.' To wit: 'We are respectful of the rights and IP of other developers. If true, Ransom's allegations directly contradict many of King's prior statements, especially those given in the wake of the Pac-Avoid cloning scandal. 'I myself was only trying to protect my hard work.' 'Your move to buy a trademark for the sole purpose of getting away with infringing on the CandySwipe trademark and goodwill just sickens me,' Ransom writes, before further admonishing King for attempting to quash his attempts to protect his own IP. Ransom also claims King purchased the trademark for Candy Crusher, a mobile game released in 2009, for the express purpose of attempting to cancel Ransom's trademark on CandySwipe and thus extricate itself from the long-running legal battle. Ransom claims he has been quietly contesting King's trademarks on Candy Crush Saga in court since King registered them in 2012, on the grounds that it was likely to be confused with Ransom's own game, CandySwipe, which was released two years before Saga and appears nearly identical. Indie developer Albert Ransom published an open letter to King today sardonically congratulating the developer of Candy Crush Saga on its success and alleging that the company is fighting to cancel Ransom's trademark on his own game, CandySwipe, which predates Candy Crush Saga.

Candyswipe