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Apple Removes StoneLoops from the App Store at the Request of MumboJumbo
Apple Removes StoneLoops from the App Store at the Request of MumboJumbo is a post from: Best Iphone App Review Website
StoneLoops! of Jurassica is fantastic marble-shooter that Bonnie proclaimed “sets a new standard for Zuma-style match-3s” in her initial review. Have you rushing off to the App Store? Well, don’t bother. Recently, StoneLoops was removed from the App Store by Apple and is no longer available for download. As it turns out, this act was perpetrated by MumboJumbo, the developers of the main genre competitor, Luxor.
According to the developer of StoneLoops, Code Minion (full blog post here), MumboJumbo’s reason for doing this was StoneLoops’s success. In fact, this assertion seems to be largely substantiated. When they both existed as PC games, Luxor far overshadowed the little-known StoneLoops. However, when it came to the iPhone, the tables turned. Code Minion beat MumboJumbo in the race to the App Store, and StoneLoops enjoyed a sustained high rank in the top paid apps list while Luxor languished.
The full story goes like this: a few weeks ago, Apple relayed Code Minion a formal complaint and request to remove StoneLoops from the App Store, originally filed by MumboJumbo. According to Code Minion, the complaint involved “infringing Luxor copyright, confusing customers, stealing Luxor’s look & feel and even stealing their source code!” Most of these claims are simply outrageous, and if you’ve ever played the two games, the differences are apparent. Code Minion replied to Apple, refuting the claims that they found erroneous and even offering to change a few things on StoneLoops’s app description. Code Minion assumed Apple ruled in their favor when weeks passed without any reply, but discovered otherwise when they learned StoneLoops was no longer available in the App Store.
There are several reasons why MumboJumbo’s actions are repulsive and hypocritical. First, of course, Luxor is not an original game. All marble shooters are derived from the 1998 Japanese game Puzz Loop, and most established iteration on the formula is Popcap’s 2003 game Zuma. In addition, there are multiple other Zuma-like games on the App Store, though MumboJumbo only chose to attack their closest competitor. Ironically, when Code Minion was deciding on a publisher for StoneLoops, they talked with MumboJumbo before settling on Playcreek. MumboJumbo was shown the game, and never expressed any doubts about possible copyright infringement. This incident sets a dangerous precedent in the App Store that could be easily exploited by other developers.
Please note that MumboJumbo has not yet commented on the incident with their side of the story.
StoneLoops! of Jurassica Removed from App Store Following Luxor Publisher Complaint
StoneLoops! of Jurassica Removed from App Store Following Luxor Publisher Complaint is a post from: Best Iphone App Review Website
StoneLoops! of Jurassica
StoneLoops! of Jurassica, one of the iPhone’s most popular puzzlers, has been removed from the App Store following a complaint from Luxor publisher MumboJumbo.
According to a blog post at Codeminion’s website, MumboJumbo accused the StoneLoops! developer of “infringing Luxor copyright, confusing customers, stealing Luxor’s look & feel and even stealing their source code.” Apple notified Codeminion of the complaint earlier this month.
Luxor
MumboJumbo also claimed that App Store customers searching for Luxor would instead find StoneLoops! listed among the search results, due to Codeminion including a review quote that cited a similarity between the two games.
Codeminion volunteered to remove the quote, and then heard no further response from Apple. On October 23rd, still with no reply or prior warning from Apple, StoneLoops! was removed from the App Store.
Atlantis Sky Patrol
Curiously, Codeminion notes that the decision was not Apple’s. According to the developer, Apple instead asked MumboJumbo whether Codeminion’s offer to remove the offending quote was a sufficient enough act to drop the complaint. Mumbo Jumbo persisted, and StoneLoops! was delisted. Similar titles like Tumblebugs, Blackbeard’s Assault, and Atlantis Sky Patrol are still available for sale.
It’s worth noting that StoneLoops! was released several months before the iPhone version of Luxor. StoneLoops! was also a much more successful game, charting among the App Store’s top 10 sellers in the games category for its first two months of North American release. Luxor dropped out of U.S. top 100 soon after its release.
Puzz Loop
The irony here, of course, is that neither StoneLoops! nor Luxor is an original game concept. Both games borrow heavily from Mitchell’s Puzz Loop, which itself was cloned in PopCap’s more successful Zuma.
Granted, Luxor and StoneLoops! both differ from Puzz Loop’s formula in that players shooter orbs in a vertical line from the bottom of the screen rather than from a rotating launcher, but many crucial mechanics remain the same. In all games, three balls of the same color will disappear when matched. Trails of orbs will reconnect after a match to create a combo. All games feature similar sound effects, the same gameplay strategies, and a level-based gameplay progression.
Tumblebugs
While StoneLoops! bears a closer resemblance to Luxor than it does to Zuma or Puzz Loop, it’s questionable that Apple has granted MumboJumbo the exclusive right to determine which Puzz Loop clone deserves to remain in the App Store. We’ll be watching this case closely for future updates.