It’s relatively common for casinos to undergo a rebrand – it can help perk up player numbers and keep your site relevant – and it’s not even completely unheard of for casinos to change their name. These sort of changes, however, are almost invariably voluntary, and used to the benefit of the casino. News this week, however, reveals that Casino Saga Casino is set to change its name for good. Why? Because King says so.
What is Casino Saga?
It might seem all a little premature for Saga to be making any changes to its branding. The ground breaking NetEnt casino only launched in 2014, and made waves by becoming one of the most iconic examples of casino gamification to be found in mobile gaming. One of a growing breed of casinos (alongside the likes of Casumo) who offer a ‘casino adventure’ as part of your experience at the site.
As well as offering top notch games, Casino Saga allowed you to score points, level up in the casino, and travel around new lands with different characters. All in all, it offers the chance for players to enjoy a saga.
Why the name change?
The change of name basically a decree from up high; yup, as in many period adventures, the villain in this piece is the King. Well, no, not The King, but King gaming to be exact– the company behind Candy Crush. As many of you will know, the proper name for Candy Crush is in fact ‘Candy Crush Saga’, and that’s where the beef between King and Casino Saga has popped up.
Despite the fact that the word ‘saga’ has been around in the English language for eons, ad has been in common usage in various media for as long as anyone can remember, King was granted a copyright on the word (along with ‘candy’?!!??!) and is exercising it against Casino Saga.
While Casino Saga is a saga in every way Candy Crush is, King has been given the monopoly on the word and Casino Saga must bend to its will. Because of this, Casino Saga is changing its name. To what? Nobody yet knows, and it’s yet to be seen whether the casino will suffer from the change of name, or benefit from the publicity that is sure to come about because of it.
Might Pocket Fruity be next in the firing line?
So, if Casino Saga is having issues with this copyright, it does rather beg the question of who else might suffer from it. One casino that springs to mind is Pocket Fruity. Yep, there’s no ‘candy’ or ‘saga’ in Pocket Fruity’s name, but you can find them in games like Candy Cash, or Super Shamrock Saga. At least with Pocket Fruity it might mean losing or renaming a couple of games, rather than the whole site, but I really don’t think that’s much of a compromise anyway.
I’m really not a fan of King’s thuggish tactics – so much so I’m going to stop playing Candy Crush… Nah, who am I kidding?
