beware of game theft on App Store

[ed_welch]

I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but there is a new scam going on in the App Store, where certain unscrupulous developers are repackaging indie games and selling them as their own.

As an example just today, I see this game:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/arcade-racing-challenge/id561090151?mt=8
which is an illegal copy of Seat Ibiza Cupra Race:
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/seat-ibiza-cupra-race/id306969677?mt=8
(as you can see, even screen shots are the same)

Google reverse image search shows that his other game is stolen too.

Anyways, I think this is something that indie developers should be aware of.

[MindJuice]

Originally Posted by ed_welch

I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but there is a new scam going on in the App Store, where certain unscrupulous developers are repackaging indie games and selling them as their own

Sorry Ed, but this isn't anything new. It's been happening since the app store started. It was happening before the app store existed. It will happen in every software market in the future.

Some people just suck and try to make money by stealing other people's work.

There is no additional action for indies to take. Just report illegal activity when you see it and let Apple and/or the legal system deal with it.

It's what you should already be doing.

[ed_welch]

Originally Posted by MindJuice

Sorry Ed, but this isn't anything new. It's been happening since the app store started. It was happening before the app store existed. It will happen in every software market in the future.

Well, I have to disagree with you there. I never seen any case where a game was stolen before. Maybe, you are getting mixed up with game "cloning", which is something entirely different.