There is no issue that threatens game development more than videogame piracy and plagiarism, and it needs to stop.
Copycat games crush domestic (and often independent) game makers who sacrifice years, and often their own money, to develop high-quality titles such as Shovel Knight, Pillars of Eternity, Stardew Valley and more.
Examples of copycat games vs. their legitimate titles include:
- FortCraft vs. Fortnite
- Monster Hunter Mobile Clone vs. Monster Hunter World
- Zelda Battle Royale Clone vs. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Illegitimate developers steal source code, reskin games (not very well) and release their own, low-quality versions for profit online and on mobile devices. A recent example of this involves game developer NetEase cloning Bluehole’s popular survival shooter, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) into their own mobile rip-off, Rules of Survival. The PUBG Corp has gone as far as to sue NetEase, which has rejuvenated interest in the negative effects of videogame cloning and plagiarism, such as the oversaturation of second-rate games and the estimated industry-wide revenue loss of $74 billion (and climbing).
However, gamers’ dollars matter, and we ultimately determine what lives and dies in the videogame marketplace.
