“Literally just a copy”—hit iOS game accused of unauthorized HTML5 code theft
1 min read
Summary
An indie game developer called VoltekPlay has accused Apple of hosting an apparent clone of one of its games on the iOS App Store.
VoltekPlay’s game Diapers, Please! was originally released as a free HTML5 game on itch.io.
Three days after its release, an almost identical game titled My Baby or Not! appeared on the App Store, with the same gameplay and even the same description.
VoltekPlay said the App Store game is “literally just a copy of our itch.io version, wrapped in a mobile shell,” and that the port was made without the studio’s permission.
As the iOS version was made by an anonymous developer, the game’s profits, which reportedly exceed $10,000, will be difficult to recover.
This is a particularly pertinent issue for indie developers, as it can be difficult to protect one’s source code when it has been freely available on the web.
