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Activision Buys Candy Crush Maker, King, for $5.9 Billion
The company behind the biggest triple-A game on the market has purchased the company behind the biggest mobile game on the market. Activision, a publisher whose portfolio includes Call of Duty among other hits, has purchased King Digital Entertainment for $5.9 billion.
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King Resolves Trademark Dispute with The Banner Saga and CandySwipe Devs
The ridiculous King Candy and Saga Trademark Saga appears to have come to an end. Very quietly, Stoic, the developer of indie RPG The Banner Saga, and Albert Ransom, developer of puzzle mobile game CandySwipe, have announced that they have come to agreements with King over their trademark challenges over the use of the words Saga and Candy.
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King has Worst IPO Launch of 2014
Sometimes, the evil empire wins. Sometimes, the evil empire loses. And, on the rarest of occasion, the emperor is wearing no clothes. I think the latter example applies to King.
The company behind Candy Crush Saga and all the sagas as a result had their IPO launch on Wednesday. While King managed to raise $500 million for the company with the share issuance, it was a painful day for King. The company’s stock dropped over 15% in price on its first day of trading.
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King Withdraws Candy Trademark Application but Nothing Really Changes
King, the company behind the infamous Candy Crush Saga game, has announced that they will no longer attempt to get a trademark on the word “candy.”
The move to trademark such a common word was met with controversy in the gaming industry as many felt that King was trying to kill any competition. However, King’s move has nothing to do with a change of heart about trademarking candy but how they’re going about defending their candy trademark.
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King Files for $500 Million IPO
Little things like trademark disputes, intellectual property law abuse and being a frontrunner for The Consumerist’s worst company in America poll doesn’t stop the progress train.
King Digital, the company behind Candy Crush Saga, filed an application with the SEC for an Initial Public Offering of shares on the New York Stock Exchange.
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King Crushes CandySwipe In Ongoing Candy Trademark Saga
Last month, it came to light that King, the makers behind the wildly popular Candy Crush Saga mobile game, had filed trademark applications on the words “candy” and “saga.” Not only are they trying to trademark common as dirt words, they were trying to enforce their trademarks by going after other games, including the not at all similar The Banner Saga game by Stoic Studio.
At the end of January, King CEO Riccardo Zacconi issued an open letter saying that King wasn’t intent on eliminating any and all competition using their trademarks. Instead, King said that their trademark policy “is to protect our IP and to also respect the IP of others.”
Unfortunately, that isn’t how it’s actually working in real life. King is using loopholes in trademark law as part of a legal battle with CandySwipe, a game that preceded Candy Crush Saga by two years, and outspend developer Albert Ransom out of the mobile app business.
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Candy Crush Makers Challenging The Banner Saga Trademark
There’s a line between everyday villainy and cartoonish supervillainy. The folks at King, the company behind the popular cash cow Candy Crush Saga, may have crossed that line.
While the internet collectively scratched their heads and said terrible things about King’s trademarking of the word “candy” in relation to gaming, educational services and clothing, they’re also claiming rights to the word “saga.”
The folks at Stoic have found this out the hard way. In late December, they were served with a Notice of Opposition by King for their game, The Banner Saga. The worst case scenario for Stoic would result in punitive damages levied against them.
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