After the long debate about Scrabulous, which was launched in 2007 and became an instant hit among Facebook users, RealNetworks introduces “Scrabble by Mattel,” an online version of the popular Scrabble for Facebook, The New York Times reported.

There is a catch to it however: it will only be available to players outside the United States and Canada, where Mattel own the rights on Scrabble. As the rights over Scrabble are shared among multiple owners, Mattel will rely on the users’ honesty about their location if they wish to play “Scrabble by Mattel.”

The whole ‘online Scrabble-mania’ began when Facebook hosted and promoted an online game called Scrabulous, created and developed by Calcutta-based entrepreneurs Rajat and Jayant Agrawalla, which made toy makers express a high discontent regarding the online application of the game.

After Facebook was asked to remove Scrabulous due to copyright infringement, over 12,000 fans created “Save Scrabulous” online movement with the purpose of convincing Scrabble owners to allow Scrabulous to continue on Facebook, despite the obvious copyright infringements, claiming that if it hadn’t been for the online game, they wouldn’t have bought the original Scrabble game either.

After RealNetworks initially announced it was planning on saving Scrabulous in early March, there were no words of another game to compete with Scrabulous. However, according to the NYT, the public relations manager of RealNetworks, Ryan Luckin, said in an e-mail message that the company has been “working with Mattel for a few months now on a version of Scrabble for Facebook,” but it is currently in its beta period.

The reactions to the beta “Scrabble by Mattel” were divided among users, some of which said it was overall good, while others expressed their discontent. The new creation by Mattel and RealNetworks will need to work hard to reach the Scrabulous fame and fans.