LitArb
Homa Games v. Century: Explosive Cloning Lawsuit Over 3 Powerful Legal Claims
Table of Contents
On January 27, 2025, Homa Games SAS (“Homa”) filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Homa’s complaint names as defendants Century Games PTE. LTD. (“Century”) and Talefun Technologies Limited (“Talefun”), accusing them of “meticulously copying” Homa’s smash-hit game All in Hole “level by level and element by element.”
Background on Homa and Its Game All in Hole
Homa is a French-based video game company focused on casual mobile gaming. Casual mobile games are free-to-play mobile games known for their easy to pick up gameplay. Such games are readily available for download through Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Homa designs free-to-play puzzle games that rely on intuitive mechanics and quick sessions to drive downloads. Homa earns revenue from in-app purchases and advertising. Their highly successful All in Hole game debuted on Google Play in June 2023 and on Apple’s App Store in June 2024. All in Hole game currently ranks #44 in Apple’s App Store (Puzzle) and has been downloaded over a million times from Google Play.
Allegations Against Century Games and Talefun Technologies
The Claimant alleges that Century and Talefun’s Hooole! was an intentional carbon-copy of their hit game. Century Games operates an international portfolio of casual, strategy, and role-playing mobile titles, with a growing footprint in the U.S. Homa has determined that Century Games operates out of Singapore. Talefun Technologies (also known as Tap Color Studio) publishes games on both major app stores, provides customer support, and markets titles to English-speaking audiences from its headquarters in Hong Kong. According to Homa, the two companies collaborated to reverse-engineer All in Hole, producing a casual mobile game clone called Hooole! The game has since been removed from Apple’s App Store and Google Play.
Legal Basis for the Lawsuit and Jurisdiction in California
It is claimed that Hooole! closely mimics All in Hole in various aspects, including level designs, graphics, and gameplay mechanics. The lawsuit aims to protect Homa’s intellectual property rights and prevent further infringement. The complaint seeks legal remedies in the form of a jury trial, injunctive relief, damages, and unjust profits resulting from Century and Talefun’s infringement.
The suit is brought under its exclusive rights granted by the U.S. Copyright Act. The complaint invokes federal subject matter jurisdiction (28 U.S.C. § 1331) because the civil case “arises under” a federal law. Furthermore, 28 U.S.C § 1338(a) grants federal district courts exclusive authority over copyright claims. Venue is proper in the Central District of California because Century and Talefun marketed Hooole! to U.S. consumers via California-hosted servers; processed in-app purchases in U.S. dollars; ran English-language ads targeting California gamers; and agreed in their App Store developer contracts to California-law forum clauses. Homa maintains personnel in San Francisco and Los Angeles, further cementing its connection to California.
Vulnerability of Casual Games to Copycats
According to the complaint, the All in Hole game is susceptible to “‘copycat’ competitors” due to the very nature of what makes casual games so popular—its “straightforward and intuitive” gameplay. Homa has owned a valid and subsisting copyright registration since October 22, 2024 (Registration No. PA 2-495-602) which it has not granted Century nor Talefun to use.
Under U.S. Copyright law, a valid copyright grants “the owner of copyright the right to authorize others to exercise these exclusive rights, subject to certain statutory limitations.” Based on the complaint, Century and Talefun develop and distribute mobile games copying the “creative expression of their competitors for their own benefit.” The complaint alleges that Century and Talefun “routinely and systematically monitor the portfolios of other game developers… cloning their gameplay, unique elements, and creative expression.” Furthering the argument that their copyright has been intentionally violated, the complaint alleges that Century evades scrutiny by publishing copycat games “through its affiliated, less famous, studios… before publishing it under the… Century Games brand.”
Categories of Infringement Identified in Complaint
The Claimant identified several innovations as being identical to their game:
- Player interfaces
- Level layouts
- Level dimensions, e.g., width and height
- Spatial organization of elements like grids, zones, and obstacles
- Coordinates—exact positions of objects on the axis
- Color choice and arrangement
- Primary shape of the game map
- User experience (UX) of core gameplay – time allocated per level, difficulty of each level
- Player boosters and upgrades
- Feature unlock sequences
- Point values associated with particular objects (e.g., gold bars, food pieces, etc.)
- Player “onboarding flow,” such as specific priority levels and number of levels at which boosters appear.
Rather than merely riff on the “black hole puzzle” genre, the Claimant alleges Hooole! mirrors All in Hole with willful abandon. The complaint breaks down the infringement into the following categories of protectable expression, illustrating that Century and Talefun deliberately replicated Homa’s creative content down to unique details and design choices:
- Map & Level Designs: Every All in Hole map shape, grid dimension, obstacle placement, and hole coordinate appears in Hooole! with identical sizing and layout.
- User-Interface Elements: The sidebars displaying score counters, timers, pause controls, shop icons, and leaderboard buttons use the same colors, shapes, and positions as All in Hole.
- Boosters & Progression Flow: Both games unlock the same four boosters (“Hole Magnet,” “Time Freeze,” “Compass,” “Bigger Hole”) at identical levels (3, 5, 7, 9), and utilize the exact same art and descriptions.
Taken together, these copied elements would likely confirm that Hooole! is an exact clone of Homa’s work rather than a new creation.
Harm to Homa’s Business and Brand Reputation
Homa alleges Century and Talefun built their business around deliberately and intentionally violating copyrights that they did not own. This, Homa claims, “has interfered with, and threatens to further disrupt, the growing success of All in Hole.” Because All in Hole relies upon revenue generated from user engagement (in-app purchases and ads), a game like Hooole! takes away Homa’s ability to acquire new players, retain current players, and harms its ability to generate revenue. Hooole!’s appearance on major app platforms diverted potential All in Hole users and reduced potential advertising and in-app purchase revenue. Moreover, users who encountered bugs or glitches in Hooole! often left negative reviews, tarnishing Homa’s brand reputation.
Legal Remedies Sought by Homa
Homa has asked the court to deliver the following legal remedies:
- Injunction: Immediate entry of preliminary and permanent orders barring Century and Talefun from manufacturing, marketing, distributing, or otherwise exploiting Hooole!.
- Accounting & Disgorgement: A full accounting of all revenues Century and Talefun earned, with immediate surrender of their ill-gotten gains.
- Statutory Damages & Fees: Under 17 U.S.C. § 504(c), Homa is entitled to seek up to USD 150,000 per willfully infringed copyrighted work, plus its attorneys’ fees and costs under 17 U.S.C. § 505.
Homa has also demanded a jury trial to assess damages and profits.
Homa is represented by Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP.
