Zynga gives casual games "a bad name", says Activision co-founder

David Crane, co-founder of Activision and creator of Pitfall, has said "casual" games have an erroneously bad reputation – and pointed the finger at one of social gaming's largest names.

Speaking to GameInformer, Crane said "casual" games are not a new phenomenon.

“Ten years ago everyone was playing these kinds of games and now everyone forgot they existed just because they’re on phones now," he said.

“I kind of feel like I’ve always made casual games. I make games for people who like to have fun and enjoy games on any level. Games are about diversion; that’s very casual."

What has changed is that the word is being used in a sneering way to refer to a particular subset of titles, Crane added.

"If you ask someone what they thought a casual game was a few years ago, they might have said something like Angry Birds. Now they’ll probably say something like Farmville. I don’t like to lump those social games in with casual games. I think it’s those Zynga-like games that give the 'casual' market a bad name," he said.