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According to Robert Scoble, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes that acquisition is in the cards for hit Facebook game Scrabulous. Here’s the relevant quote:
“[Zuckberberg] talked to [Scoble] about [Zuckerberg’s] love of Scrabulous and was hopeful that a good resolution will come. Hasbro has been threatening the two developers of Scrabulous. [Scoble] told Zuckerberg that it was clear that Hasbro had a case that its intellectual property was being infringed on (Scrabulous is an online version of Hasbro’s Scrabble, which pretty clearly infringes on copyrights and trademarks of Hasbro’s). Zuckerberg agreed that that was the case, but told [Scoble] that Hasbro does see the value in getting a new online community built on its behalf. [Zuckberberg] thinks there may be an acquisition or other good outcome to the dispute.”
How much is Scrabulous worth? With peak populations of over 500,000 uniques (daily!), there’s clearly a valuable asset. However, word is that Hasbro’s been pressuring the makers of Scrabulous “to sell itself for a song to Electronic Arts” [2]. However, if Hasbro’s too heavy handed, the makers of Scrabulous may elect to take their code and go home. Regardless, the sale of Scrabulous may embolden other nimble developers to piggyback on “unclaimed” IP in the hopes that rights holders will elect to acquire rather than sue.
We’re betting that a sale’s in the works. The app’s still running on Facebook; if it gets yanked, then negotiations have gone south.
Sources:
- “The shy Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook,” Scobleizer, January 26, 2008
- “As Tonight’s Deadline for Scrabulous Shutdown (or Sale) Looms, Zynga Might Be Next,” Techcrunch, January 22, 2008
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