What started out as a copyright lawsuit against Zynga by Electronic Arts (EA) has turned into a nasty back-and-forth of lawsuits and counter suits, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report.
The latest move came last week when Zynga answered EA’s suit claiming The Ville borrowed too heavily from The Sims Social with a lawsuit of their own.
In their suit, Zynga claims that EA violated state law by requesting a no-hire agreement with the social gaming giant.
A no-hire agreement is when two companies agree not to poach employees from one another. As recently as 2010, Apple and Google received heavy fines from the Department of Justice for engaging in this type of agreement.
In court filings, the company alleges that EA CEO John Riccitiello approached former EA executive and current Zynga employee John Schappert with a proposal for a no-hire agreement but was rebuffed. According to Zynga claims, thousands of EA employees have sent the company resumes.
This aspect of the argument between the two companies is especially odd given the fact that both of them are known as extremely demanding workplaces.
Is Zynga’s lawsuit a good move, or a sign of desperation? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.