In Defence of Derivative Games

 

If you stick with this blog, as I post more frequently you’ll begin to see that I respect straight-talking, honest people in the video games industry. Well, Zynga’s Dan Porter was at least being honest, if not especially admirable, when he reportedly said, “Zynga is often accused of copying games, which is mostly true”. Not surprisingly, this bone-headed statement generated controversy, and this in turn got me thinking about the issue of derivative game design. With its connotations of a lazy, cynical creative process, no criticism is more damning than calling a game derivative. But is a derivative game always a bad one?