***UPDATE*** LAUNCH DATE: FEB 17th!! ***UPDATE!*** The Blocks Cometh trailer! Subscribe to the TouchArcade YouTube channel Some of you may know about this story already but in case you don't, our flash game The Blocks Cometh was stolen from us and made into an iPhone game. That game is now in the top #100 on the US charts. We've contacted apple about the copyright infringement and we are waiting to hear back from them. There is an article about it on Destructoid We were in the process of porting this exact game to the iPhone when we noticed the rip off on Thursday evening. I've summed up everything that has happened in the last few days on our blog. www.halfbot.com We are working very hard to get The Blocks Cometh ported to the iPhone and it should be ready to submit to apple soon. I urge everyone, please DON'T buy the version up there right now and wait until the official one is released. It will be better, we promise! The flash game is available to play now The Blocks Cometh
I was thinking about getting the game but I read your post about it being stolen so I decided not to get it. I feel sorry for you guys. I hope that game gets pulled. I'll definitely wait for the REAL version. I hope it rocks!
I saw that one and was so unhappy to see how bad the art was. Hearing the story about it not being legit was good, and now that it's really coming it's great! Hugeworm was another one of their ripoffs, ala Effing Worms. Horrible controls give that one away pretty quick.
Looks so much better than the fake. Can't wait to play this one and rant on and on about how badly the fake sucked!!
I havent played the rip off version but I did watch a demo video, and stolen ideas aside, I must admit the chiptune soundtrack is awesome and the addition of a sword over a side shooting gun I thought was great as well. Hope things work out for you, maybe steal their additions to your game? lol
Sadly, i'm not sure apple will pull the app merely because of your report, because it does not breaks any law unless you copyright (or) trademark the name. I suggest you better trademark it soon and get the thief's app down before you release your game Look at this thread, similar thing happened to a friend of mine, the app is still up despite his report to apple. http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=68906 These practice are happening quite often now, not only done by some unknown chinese developer nowadays, even big companies like Capcom does this kind of shit
Terribly sorry to hear about this. I will admit I had bought the game, not knowing about the original or that it was stolen (not just from you, but from League of Evil, an upcoming game, as well). I WILL be buying this version, and I do hope Apple pulls this cheap knockoff from the store.
That's not quite the same thing though. In this case they've actually stolen stuff. It's quite a different story with what you linked (and talked about, with Capcom), where what was "stolen" (more copied) was simply concept and "feeling" of art style/game mechanics etc. Such loose things can't really be protected, but actual art assets etc is protected automatically.
Still a no case, it seems. It can only be deemed as stolen if the original owner can prove they actually legally own the stuff (by copyrighting or trademark)
Art assets etc are not something you have to "copyright". Such stuff is always protected. "In all countries that are members of the Berne Convention, copyright is automatic and need not be obtained through official registration with any government office. Once an idea has been reduced to tangible form, for example by securing it in a fixed medium (such as a drawing, sheet music, photograph, a videotape, or a computer file), the copyright holder is entitled to enforce his or her exclusive rights." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright#Obtaining_copyright
Hey guys thanks for the support! Dusse thanks for summing up that reply for me! I was about to say the same thing. I think we'll be able to make a pretty strong case and the fact that the only part of the game that wasn't ripped from us was ripped from the League of Evil. I think apple won't question the copyright violation. We can confirm to everyone that the game will have Touch Pad controls and Tilt Controls. So you can choose how you would like to play the game. We also have a few surprises coming and we'll be making some announcements soon!
Dude I'm so sorry about what happened. That's really some f***** up sh**. I hope you guys have a strong case. I was actually thinking of buying the game but since I now know the full story behind it I'm glad I never purchased it. I will be sure to wait for your version to come out. I hope this unfortunate event has a good ending for you guys. Best of luck.
Hey Guys, This really sucks that it happened. This is exactly why I keep all details secure until I know that we are past the point someone could copy any of our games. You guys had a Flash game out there which is very easy to download and copy all assets from. You guys do have rights to the art, though the mechanics will be a much harder thing to prove unless they copied line for line (which is possible since you can put flash games on iPhone now). Software copyright cases are very hard to fight because as people have stated before, what is an original idea? Lots of games are just updated versions of older games or use the same concepts. Like Angry Birds was not an original gameplay idea. I do hope that Apple sees that the game is a copy and wrong and pulls it down. I also hope that you guys can make some money off of your real game. What I might suggest for you though is to come up with a new game that you can put on the iPhone. You've created a very cool Flash game and I know you guys probably have thousands of more ideas for games. You have the passion to do it, so don't let this slight set back stop you guys from venturing out. If you'd like any help or perhaps would like to collaborate with an indie game studio on another game feel free to contact us. We know talent and passion when we see it and we know you guys have it.
Hurry up and release the game!! A stronger case can be made if their app actually affects your sales.
Thanks for the ideas! We are very confident apple will remove the game in question. We have a lot of awesome supporters that are looking forward to the Official game release so we definitely don't want to disappoint those fans! The game may not be as successful as it could have been but we are still moving ahead with the port regardless! Don't worry more iPhone games are planned for the future! We're in this for the long haul!
Glad to know the real version is still in plans for a release. Will it now be called "the real blocks cometh" not to be confused with the stolen version from the a holes at edison?