Clone culture and its continuous impact on indie developers

gamesindustry.biz:

Marie Dealessandri

Features Editor

Friday 18th February 2022

Vlambeer

Discussions around clones crop up on a regular basis, usually around the release of widely successful games that are being copied.

In recent weeks, the conversation mainly revolved around hit puzzle game Wordle, which has seen a high number of clones emerge following its viral success, as well as numerous games inspired by its simple word-guessing mechanic.

Apple confirmed in January that it was removing Wordle clones from the App Store but the platform holder's reaction is more exception than rule.

Unpacking developer Witch Beam learnt it the hard way after dozens of clones of its zen puzzle hit emerged on mobile before and after its launch on consoles and PC last November.

"There needs to be more moderation of apps and a more thorough review process [from mobile platform holders]," says Unpacking creative director Wren Brier. "It's better on the App Store, we've seen much fewer clones there. The ones that just constantly pop up, that's generally on the Google Play store, although I have seen a couple of those Unpacking Game Guides on iOS as well, and I've had them taken down.

"It's a bit ridiculous that I have to, several times a week, go into the Google Play store, and go, 'Let's see how many clones we have now'"

Wren Brier, Witch Beam

"It's a bit ridiculous that I have to, several times a week, go into the Google Play store, and go, 'Let's see how many clones we have now,' and none of them are even real games. They're literally just some scammers trying to make a quick buck using someone else's art and a bunch of ads. There is no benefit to your users from that. Just moderate this. Why does it need to waste your users' time, and waste developers' time, to