Scrabulous disabled for US, Canadian Facebook users

by Ross Miller { Jul 29th 2008 at 12:15PM }

Hoping to make a comeback with that 365-point quixotry play in Scrabulous? US and Canadian Facebook users were likely dismayed to find out this week that Scrabulous has been disabled. The region-specific lock likely has to do with Hasbro's license for all Scrabble video games, which is for US and Canada only (Mattel owns the rights for the rest of the world). In the interim, you can always play the official Scrabble Facebook app care of Electronic Arts, although it lacks the panache of the seemingly now-defunct Scrabulous.

[Thanks, Andrew B]

Tags: ea, electronic-arts, facebook, hasbro, mattel, scrabble, scrabulous

Related From Joystiq

Microsoft reveals usage stats for Facebook, Last.fm
10 days ago
Sony announces firmware 3.10 for PS3 with Facebook integration, coming 'soon'
22 days ago
Scrabulous suit dropped by Hasbro
358 days ago

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Huey2k2 @ Jul 29th 2008 12:21PM

Facebook is stupid.

whymog @ Jul 29th 2008 12:57PM

You're stupid.

Huey2k2 @ Jul 29th 2008 12:58PM

Perhaps, but that doesn't change the fact that Facebook is stupid.

Zertoss @ Jul 29th 2008 1:28PM

Most things on the internet are stupid. The likelihood of it being stupid increases as it becomes more popular with tweens.

xFenixKnightx @ Jul 29th 2008 12:25PM

Scrabulous? Never heard of it. Facebook? I like Myspace better.

eNrique @ Jul 29th 2008 3:39PM

Oh shit.

JJ Rooster @ Jul 29th 2008 12:34PM

http://www.scrabulous.com/

should work for all as well.

John Z @ Jul 29th 2008 12:40PM

Tiles in Hasbro's tray:

O U U C F K Y

Saria the Cat @ Jul 29th 2008 12:43PM

Hey, there is still that one freeware of Scrabble I told everyone about. I keep forgetting what it's called, though. :(

Wiinterfang @ Jul 29th 2008 12:47PM

Scrawhatnow?

brokenscope @ Jul 29th 2008 12:47PM

They have a trademark on scrabble, scrabulous was a profit generating enterprise.

They are well within their rights to do this. Could they have handled it better? Yes, most definitely.

Jakka (Not sure why he got banned?) @ Jul 29th 2008 12:53PM

Aside from band-marketing on MySpace, who the hell needs any of this crap? Never understood those people.

FSK405K @ Jul 29th 2008 1:08PM

Facebook/myspace/etc. is the new hangout place for 10-18 year-olds, rather than McDonald's, movie theaters, malls, etc.

Cheezeman3000 @ Jul 29th 2008 3:55PM

Actually, FSK, Facebook was initially ONLY open to universities. Only recently has it been open to everyone. Most of my friends on it are in their mid to late-20's.
Plus the interface is professional-looking and you don't have to worry about people's pages being NSFW. Facebook is, hands-down, the best way to keep in contact with people these days.

whymog @ Jul 29th 2008 1:00PM

I'm all for the copyright holders protecting their rights. I just wish they'd keep using the Scrabulous engine. When BlockStar was replaced by the infinitely more terrible Tetris Friends app, it stung deep. :(

Facebook has the potential to be an incredible social gaming network, and it's a shame that copyright holders would sooner "protect" their property than create high-quality versions that do them justice.

R.I.P. Scrabulous.

Saria the Cat @ Jul 29th 2008 2:04PM

I'm right there with you. I feel it's completely Hasbro's right to do this but it's quite disappointing that they are more focused on protecting their rights than delivering something awesome.

"Hey, Mr. Hasbro. There's this application that is ripping ours off that is really popular and people love it. What should we do?"

"DE_STROY_" (robot voice)

"Well, should we try making our own? People really like this thing."

"ALL_RIGHTS_ARE_BELONG_TO_US_"

"Well, we can probably make a lot of mone---"

"NOT_PAID_FOR_INSOLENCE_"

Odog4ever @ Jul 29th 2008 7:29PM

@ Saria the Cat

Actually it's been widely rumored that Hasbro tried to buy Scrabulous, but the creators said no because they wanted more money.

The lesson here is: Don't be greedy. I hope they made enough money to cover their court cost.

Zoot Suit Jedi @ Jul 29th 2008 1:14PM

Way to give a shout out to quixotry! I almost dropped that word in...wait for it...REAL scrabble likle two weeks after that story broke. Awesome.

chris @ Jul 29th 2008 2:13PM

scarbulous is just a bunch of f'n thief's. . .

Breaking Dawn ebooks @ Jul 29th 2008 1:59PM

This is a shame. It was such a great way to play Scrabble remotely. Stuff like this is good for kids, it builds vocabulary, keeps them off the streets and away from gang-related criminal activities (and instead opens the world of internet fraud to them!).

Mr.ESC @ Jul 29th 2008 2:38PM

The people who missed it probably didn't played it.

It sucked,matches were to long because people liked to visit Dictionary.com and make you wait 5 to 20 minutes to pull off as many 3 letter combos across the board.

Lysander @ Jul 29th 2008 5:22PM

Actually, you didn't have to do that. It had a dictionary tool, as well as a list of 2 and 3 letter words for convenience. Scrabulous was a great game. It gave me a way to play a game with my cousin, who lives halfway across the world. I sincerely hope that they will bring scrabulous back, and still protect their investment.