SayGames, the publisher behind an Unpacking clone that was called out by developer Witch Beam, has apologised for a “lack of research” that led to the copy being released.
Earlier in the week, a clone of hit indie game Unpacking made the rounds when the real game’s developer called it out as an “opportunistic ad-riddled app” that’s “suspiciously similar-looking” to its own game.
Now, the publisher for this clone has apologised in a statement to Kotaku.
SayGames CEO, Egor Vaihanski, apologised “for our lack of research prior to launching the game from one of the developers we work with.”
“The game clearly resembles Unpacking and this resemblance goes way beyond the game title. We messed up and we apologise,” said Vaihanski, before adding that it has “pulled ‘Unpacking Master‘ from Google Play. The game is no longer available for download on both iOS or Android.”
Vaihanski also said that SayGames has been in touch with Witch Beam to “discuss how we can resolve this”.
As highlighted by several news stories this month, there seems to be a real problem with “clone” games on Apple and Google‘s respective app stores.
Several weeks ago, one developer met backlash after jumping on the popularity of free-to-play game Wordle to sell what appeared to be a clone with a paid version.
This issue doesn’t just extend to small development teams, either. Riot Games is currently suing a Vietnamese studio for a “knock-off” of its auto chess game, Teamfight Tactics.
Likewise, PUBG developer Krafton is not only suing the developer of an alleged clone of its game, it’s also named Apple and Google in the lawsuit for earning “a substantial amount of revenue from their distribution”. Krafton also alleges that both companies engage in “selective enforcement of copyright law”.
In other news, OlliOlli World has received a new cinematic trailer just two weeks before it’s set to release.
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