Zynga, the social-game startup will probably go into a lot of legal fights. As they settle down their dealings with the Playdom you-stole-our-playbook fight, we almost confirmed that they filed an unusual lawsuit, one in which where they were playing defense. During last February, Mob Wars creator David Maestri accused Zynga for copyright violation. Mafia Wars is a text-based game, similar to Mob Wars. This game launched by Zynga was too much of a copy of Mob Wars, claimed Maestri. Maestri himself had recently unloaded his own power to the game after a dispute with SGN, his former employer.

The Maestri-Zynga lawsuit got solved now. The rumors said that Maestri demanded $10 million from Zynga to settle the dispute. Finally, one source reported that he got a payment in seven figures. This indicates that he received something around $7 – $9 million. Now, do you know why the settlement was extremely high? The reason is hard to believe. Estimates said that Mob Wars pulled $1 million/month at some point from users who were eager to improve their weapons and other things. Though these games seem silly real money circulates through them from virtual goods.

Maestri had a sunny day. It also highlights the truth that none among these companies have a 100% percent clean record when it comes to respect the intellective assets of competitors.