Zynga founder says developers have to park their egos and ‘be comfortable copying’ other games

Zynga founder Mark Pincus says developers need to ignore their egos and become more comfortable with the idea of copying other games.

As reported by MobileGamer.biz, Pincus explains his framework, which he calls ‘Proven Better New’, in his new book Life at the Speed of Play.

According to Pincus, his framework consists of Proven (copying the exact features and mechanics – “every pixel” – that is already loved by the target audience), Better (deciding what can be improved) and New (adding an entirely new idea, which is the “riskiest part” and has to be isolated and tested).

Some developers are so concerned with not copying existing games, however, that they risk creating inferior products instead of using what already works, he says in his book.

“We all want to be respected by our peers, so our egos hold us back from copying,” he says. “In my experience, the more junior the product teams, the more they spend cycles trying hard not to copy or even look as if they were copying.

“We need to get comfortable copying what already works (legally), so we can spend all our time and energy on the novel innovation that actually excites us and our users.”

He adds: “Only a master craftsman can spot excellence and be comfortable copying it. They recognise when something is already excellent and understand that changing anything will just make it worse – and they’re confident in their ability to create something new and innovative that will speak for itself.”

Pincus explains in the book that his Proven Better New ethos has existed ever since his first game, Facebook game Zynga Poker, where the Proven element was copying the rules for online poker, the Better element was making it instantly playable without a download, and the New element was adding players’ real identities using their Facebook profile pictures.

He also acknowledges other titles for copying Zynga’s titles, claiming he has no ill will because it’s proof his framework works. He notes that Zynga’s game CityVille copied a number of ideas from Supercell’s Millionaire City, and that later on Supercell copied a number of ideas from FarmVille for its game Hay Day.

“One of the most successful examples of Proven Better (no New) came when a team at Supercell created Hay Day, which was essentially FarmVille for mobile,” he says.

“If you compared the original Hay Day and FarmVille, you would have thought they were the same game. Both featured the same half driveway, the mailbox, and the house with the white picket fence. They even have the same pickup truck – one was red, one was blue. But I’m not complaining. This is a masterclass in Proven Better New.”