SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - A shooting game mobile app is a "slavish" copy of a rival's game, except for changing the prey from deer to people, the maker of "Deer Hunter" claims in court.
Glu Mobile sued Hothead on Wednesday in Federal Court. It claims that Glu Mobile's Deer Hunter 2014 and Hothead's Kill Shot are "virtually identical in every material respect other than the species of the prey." Kill Shot targets people, not deer.
Glu Mobile says Hothead's game is "so slavish" it included similar mistakes that Glu Mobile made, such as miscategorizing the same type of weapon.
Glu Mobile says users have made comments about the similarity of the games.
"The conclusion is inescapable that Hothead took the all-too-common shortcut of cloning a leading game in the genre to seize a share of the market (which it quickly did), rather than investing the resources to develop something it could truly call its own," the complaint states.
Glu Mobile seeks damages for copyright and trademark violations, all profits Hothead made from Kills Shot, and an injunction.
According to VentureBeat, the mobile gaming industry could be worth $20 billion this year. Kill Shot is performing better than Deer Hunter 2014 on Apple's iTunes App Store. Deer Hunter comes in at 51, while Kill Shot is at 43.
Glu Mobile is represented by Jennifer Kelly of San Francisco-based Fenwick & West.
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