Answer: They’re all shameless clones of low budget indie games!
This. This is by far my biggest fear as a dev.
Not the idea of never making it. Not people stealing my game. Not getting into legal trouble over something stupid.
Yet, time and time again those are the fears people always talk about. Why?
Can you even NAME the games that they cloned?
Why is cloning rarely brought up? Is it because there’s little that you can do about it?
And lets talk about the ruthlessness these companies take to do so.
Angry Birds let the dev alone, so they’re at least in the clear there.
But I should hope EVERYONE knows about the crap King pulled with Candy Crush. Long story short: they sued and shut down the original game through some really crappy legal moves.
Then Zynga with games like Farmville, I’ve read that they actually have employees comb flash sites to watch trending new games specifically to clone them and steal their thunder while it’s hot.
That’s just a whole new level of crappy.
And then there’s indies stealing from indies. Just look at the swarms of Slender and Flappy Bird clones.
What do you think can be done to protect yourself from this?
Generics are always a problem for innovators. You can ignore it. Or you can go work for a bigger studio. Then you can shamelessly steal indie games.
Being an indie is not about the cash. Its about the lifestyle. Build what you want when you want it. No accountability to a boss or share holders. No compromising you game design to make money. Just pure game design.
Clean conscience versus a fat pay check. You choose.
Angry Birds is a clone of Crush the Castle. Mechanics are the same, but target audience was entirely different.
You see in Crush the Castle overall design wasn’t memorable and bright, while Angry Birds did have.
Apart from that in Crush the Castle there is gore and blood, while in Angry Birds pigs just vanish.
Apart from that, Angry Birds had an advantage of publishing it to mobile back when it was very small and not as saturated.
Besides, even if Crush the Caste was addicting (never played it) people couldn’t take it into their mobile devices.
In this case, Angry Birds appeared in the right place and the right time.
I admit. That’s just the dickheadest move I’ve ever heard of! Clone a game and then sue the original is just shocking.
Those games aren’t blatant clones of a single game, they are all based on several games, most of those were copies of prior games. They used existing mechanics, which their predecessors had also done.
They all brought innovation to the games, (good or bad). Angry birds brought quality, variety and a touch mechanic to a very simple idea.
Those companies also started out as small teams/independent at one point as well.
Generally, when games that are iterations on common mechanics become successful, it is not at the expense of another or predecessor. (Zynga excluded). In many cases, they don’t even compete with the game that was the inspiration. Castle Crush had its run already, Rovio didn’t take anything away from them, in fact they probably helped sales. Candy crush, hundreds of match-3 games before. There were also a handful of farm games as well, (our company had one). None were really doing that well, Farmville made it work. A lot of other farm games got a bump from FV’s success. A bump they were never going to get on their own.
A mechanic is only one part of game, tuning, creative, market (Castle Crush and Angry Birds are different markets, same with Candy Crush and Bejeweld, etc…) and overall quality.
Most games are generic mechanics at the core, new features are added, mashups, different art direction, etc. Most developers get into making games because there is a game they like, and want/think they can improve on it. Some do. Minecraft is a clone, Braid, MeatBoy, etc… All basic games that they brought a tweak or idea to that upped the appeal You see it here all the time, you see it in pretty much all games.
It is nothing to worry about at all. Ideas don’t make games, it is the execution. If someone is able to look at your game and instantly find a way to make it better, well… the problem seems clear. Take note of what those companies do, and do the same, raise the bar before someone else finds a way to do it for you. Its a great time to be a developer, tools and markets and resources are all around that let small teams compete directly and eventually be a big company.
Well, not just that. They sent a cease and desist notice without any merit, then when the guy fought back they bought a game that was already in the store with the word “candy” in the title that had nothing to do with Candy Crush and claimed ownership of the word “candy”.
They also made a highly polished, well crafted and tuned game, and took advantage of emerging tech. It had little to do with timing, there were a ton of devs scrambling for gold at that time. They just did it better.
Which is petty odd. I am generally known as a cynic. …and a dick, and a smart ass, and a bit arrogant.(but that is ok, because I am mostly right).
When it comes to making games, I am competitive, and good at. I start with the simple assumption that if someone else can do it well, I can too. I have a brain, desire and computer. I have the same tools as every single developer on the planet (these days a little more than most). In my field, if I could not compete with other top folks, I should be doing something else.
For the record you are welcome to clone Pond Wars. I will then proceed to threaten to sue. Media publicity will push Pond Wars revenue higher. A few choice public outbursts just to make sure nobody forgets me.
Better publicity then I can afford with banner ads.
I think he is referring to the whole “doing your own thing”… thing. Just like being self-employed in any other manner. Most small business owners do not make any more money than they would in a job. Often much less money for more work in fact. The reason they do it is so they can have more control over what they decide to spend their time on and when they choose to spend it. To not have to deal with office politics. No boss directing them. To these people this lifestyle is more important than money. Sometimes they actually manage to make good money too but if money is the priority then a person should probably just get a job instead of starting a business such as becoming an Indie game developer.
Nah, I’m pretty sure he’s referring to how your life becomes a living Axe Body Spray commercial. Women just throwing themselves at you like a zombie movie.
Its a great time to be a developer, tools and markets and resources are all around that let small teams compete directly and eventually be a big company. 