South Korea’s leading mobile game company Netmarble Games has been sued for infringing intellectual property rights in its flagship mobile board game “Everybody’s Marble.”

Local game developer iPeoples Inc. said Wednesday that it has filed a lawsuit against Netmarble for copying several components of its mobile game “Blue Marble” and utilizing the game’s IP without due payments.

iPeoples claims that Netmarble’s “Everybody’s Marble” released in 2013 features many of the same design elements and game rule system found in its own “Blue Marble” mobile game launched in 2008.

“Blue Marble” is a popular Korean board game originally developed by local company Siyatsa in 1982. It involves players rolling a dice to amass wealth by purchasing property and constructing buildings, similar to the popular American board game “Monopoly.”

iPeoples told media outlets that it had signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Siyatsa over utilizing the IP of “Blue Marble” before launching the eponymous mobile board game. On the other hand, Netmarble published “Everybody’s Marble” without Siyatsa’s permission, iPeoples claimed.

“Netmarble proposed a licensing agreement to Siyatsa, but it declined the offer as it had signed an exclusive deal with us,” iPeoples said. “Netmarble later even launched a board game version of its ‘Everybody’s Marble,’ jeopardizing Siyatsa’s business as well,” it added.

iPeoples said it decided to seek legal action to settle the IP issues before it introduces a newly upgraded “Blue Marble” mobile game under an exclusive licensing partnership with Siyatsa.

Netmarble Games released a statement Wednesday expressing “disappointment at finding out about the lawsuit through news reports, before receiving an official notice.”

“We did not violate IP rights or engage in unlawful competitive activities as claimed. In the case that (iPeoples) has filed a lawsuit, we will address the due concerns through legal measures,” it added.

“Everybody’s Marble” is one of Netmarble’s most popular mobile games alongside “Seven Nights” and “Raven.” Since its launch in 2013, the mobile board game has scored international success, with more than 200 million downloads worldwide.

By Sohn Ji-young (jys@heraldcorp.com)