Protestors Rally Against 'Candy Crush Saga' Developer with Deluge of Candy-Themed Games

King, the developer behind mega-hit Candy Crush Saga, was recently awarded a UK trademark on the term "candy" for use in video games and is awaiting approval on a similar trademark in the United States. With Apple in some cases assisting King in targeting apps with "candy" in their names, developers unhappy with King's IP strategy have responded with a protest that is seeking to flood the iOS App Store with candy-themed games, according to reports from Pocket-lint and Slate.

candy-crush-saga
Organized by the Candy Jam website, the group exhorts game developers to "fight trademark trolling" by making a candy-themed game between now and February 3. The game-making jam is meant to protest the trademark system and King's aggressive business tactics, and developers have already submitted more than 100 apps with different combinations of the words "candy," "saga," "scroll," "apple" and more.

King CEO and co-founder Riccardo Zacconi says the company is "not trying to control the world’s use of the word candy," clarifying that King will only use the trademark "to prevent others from creating games that unfairly capitalise on our success." Zacconi also defends his company against allegations that it released a game, Pac-Avoid, that cloned an existing game from developer Stolen Goose. Zacconi explains the company "should never have published Pac-Avoid" and has apologetically pulled it from its website.

Popular Stories

iPhone SE 4 Vertical Camera Feature

iPhone SE 4 Production Will Reportedly Begin Ramping Up in October

Tuesday July 23, 2024 2:00 pm PDT by
Following nearly two years of rumors about a fourth-generation iPhone SE, The Information today reported that Apple suppliers are finally planning to begin ramping up mass production of the device in October of this year. If accurate, that timeframe would mean that the next iPhone SE would not be announced alongside the iPhone 16 series in September, as expected. Instead, the report...
iPhone 17 Plus Feature

iPhone 17 Lineup Specs Detail Display Upgrade and New High-End Model

Monday July 22, 2024 4:33 am PDT by
Key details about the overall specifications of the iPhone 17 lineup have been shared by the leaker known as "Ice Universe," clarifying several important aspects of next year's devices. Reports in recent months have converged in agreement that Apple will discontinue the "Plus" iPhone model in 2025 while introducing an all-new iPhone 17 "Slim" model as an even more high-end option sitting...
Generic iPhone 17 Feature With Full Width Dynamic Island

Kuo: Ultra-Thin iPhone 17 to Feature A19 Chip, Single Rear Camera, Semi-Titanium Frame, and More

Wednesday July 24, 2024 9:06 am PDT by
Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today shared alleged specifications for a new ultra-thin iPhone 17 model rumored to launch next year. Kuo expects the device to be equipped with a 6.6-inch display with a current-size Dynamic Island, a standard A19 chip rather than an A19 Pro chip, a single rear camera, and an Apple-designed 5G chip. He also expects the device to have a...
iPhone 16 Pro Sizes Feature

iPhone 16 Series Is Less Than Two Months Away: Everything We Know

Thursday July 25, 2024 5:43 am PDT by
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series around mid-September, which means we are about two months out from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design differences and new features to take into account. To bring ...
icloud private relay outage

iCloud Private Relay Experiencing Outage

Thursday July 25, 2024 3:18 pm PDT by
Apple’s iCloud Private Relay service is down for some users, according to Apple’s System Status page. Apple says that the iCloud Private Relay service may be slow or unavailable. The outage started at 2:34 p.m. Eastern Time, but it does not appear to be affecting all iCloud users. Some impacted users are unable to browse the web without turning iCloud Private Relay off, while others are...
iPhone 17 Plus Feature Purple

iPhone 17 Rumored to Feature Mechanical Aperture

Tuesday July 23, 2024 9:32 am PDT by
Apple is planning to release at least one iPhone 17 model next year with mechanical aperture, according to a report published today by The Information. The mechanical system would allow users to adjust the size of the iPhone 17's aperture, which refers to the opening of the camera lens through which light enters. All existing iPhone camera lenses have fixed apertures, but some Android...

Top Rated Comments

roboclint Avatar
137 months ago
'King CEO and co-founder Riccardo Zacconi says the company is "not trying to control the world's use of the word candy," clarifying that King will only use the trademark "to prevent others from creating games that unfairly capitalise on our success."'

Like Bejeweled?
Score: 41 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Bensalama21 Avatar
137 months ago
The trademark system is simply delusional.
Score: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Unggoy Murderer Avatar
137 months ago
Of all games out there, Candy Crush is the one I hate the most. I even hate the people who play it. And I REALLY hate the people who play it on my train home from work with their sound at 100%.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AngerDanger Avatar
137 months ago
I guess I'll stick with the generic Sweet Solidified Glucose Crush Saga instead.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CJM Avatar
137 months ago
Well they tried to sue the makers of The Banner Saga, for use of the word 'saga', so you know they're being completely honest.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
charlituna Avatar
137 months ago
The trouble with his comments is that there are games with candy in the title that predate him. His trademark would basically make it illegal for those games to have a digital version because he controls Candy used with video games. So say 'candyland' now legally can't go digital without changing their name or some how successfully arguing that candy and candyland are not at all the same

I get his intent to keep folks from cloning his game or using similar names to confuse folks but how it was done was not correct or cool and I can't believe the UK allowed it. I hope the US doesn't or if they do someone immediately sues.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)