News that the Agarwalla brothers’ new Facebook game to replace Scrabulous, Wordscraper, has drawn 133,000 subscribers is no surprise.
News that Scrabble licence owners in North America, Hasbro, and the rest of the world, Mattel, have not had similar success is also no shock.
With a bit of co-operation, these two companies could have tapped into an almost unlimited desire for wordsmiths to pit their wits against each other.
Instead, what do the do? Cling on to an outdated licensing agreement and get up the noses of their potential new customers. Hundreds of thousands of people who played Scrabulous saw the lawyers close down their little daily pleasure. No wonder they’re not flocking back.
If ever there was an example of inflexible institutions failing to grasp an opportunity, this is it.
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Spot on – as so often in this life, compromise would have been better for all than dogged intransigence is for anyone. A thought for political purists everywhere…
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