12 Video Games that Copied Blockbusters

In the world of entertainment, it is practically impossible for two products (whether films, books, songs or video games) not to be similar in some way, or to share narrative or thematic similarities. And that is not necessarily bad. But it is quite another thing to “shoot” without any shame, and it is something that we are going to see in these games that are blatant plagiarisms .

Below, we review 12 video games that unabashedly copied blockbusters , from Minecraft and The Last of Us to retro legends like Street Fighter and Super Mario Bros.

Games that plagiarize the most iconic AAA titles in the industry:

• Arctic Combat
• Crafting Block World
• Cyberpunk 2088
• Fighter’s History
• Hey Monster
• I Am Hero: AFK Tactical Teamfight
• Man Standing
• Mole Kart
• The Great Giana Sisters
• The Last Hope
• Unearthed: Trail of Ibn Batutta
• War of Gods: Zeus of Child

Arctic Combat

• Genre: Shooter / MMO.
• Developer: WEBZEN.
• Platforms: PC.
• Release year: 2012.

In the early 2010s, multiplayer shooters like Call of Duty and Battlefield were all the rage . However, Arctic Combat doesn’t take its cue from Activision and EA shooters, but rather from the hit Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, available for free on Steam.

Arctic Combat was a multiplayer FPS developed with Unreal Engine 2.5, which became controversial for plagiarizing several maps from Valve’s title , and was otherwise an entertaining online shooter that had its community of players on MMO portals on the Internet.

Crafting Block World

• Genre: Simulation.
• Developer: MyGames.
• Platforms: PC / Nintendo Switch.
• Release year: 2019.

Reaching the top of the list with Minecraft , one of the best-selling games of all time, is no easy task. Even less so if you don’t bother to hide the fact that Mojang’s game is your great inspiration, from the technical section and the interface to the very start screen.

Even the title’s typography mimics the one used by Minecraft . Crafting Block World is a simple alternative, which has only 42 reviews on Steam (sitting in Mixed), and which has a version adapted to the Nintendo Switch circuits. Far, far below the game it imitates .

Cyberpunk 2088

• Genre: Adventure / Role-playing.
• Developer: Hittite Games.
• Platforms: Android.
• Release year: 2020.

Cyberpunk 2088 is one of those cases where a random developer takes advantage of the success of the AAA of the moment to make a quick profit. It was released as a Google Play Store exclusive, and some wayward users fell for its psychedelic visual style… which has nothing to do with the work of CD Projekt RED.

The truth is that Hittite Games’ title is not an RPG, but rather a walking simulator with nightclubs, dancers and endless roads. It was once a curious and funny game, but is no longer available.

Fighter’s History

• Genre: Fighting.
• Developer: Data East.
• Platforms: Arcade / NES.
• Release year: 1993.

Fighter’s History is perhaps the most worthy game on the list we present to you, as it has even generated its own franchise and has a good reputation among fans of the genre. In the nineties, it was targeted by Capcom, who understood that the game was a rip-off of Street Fighter II .

The case was decided in favour of Data East, the creators of the title, arguing that the use of the basic mechanics of fighting games of those years could not be limited. In addition, they tried to prove that Capcom plagiarised Data East’s Karate Champ game to release the first Street Fighter.

Hey Monster

• Genre: RPG.
• Developer: Unspecified.
• Platforms: Android.
• Release year: 2016.

If you think Palworld is a rip-off of Pokémon , you haven’t seen Hey Monster in action. It’s impossible to find this clone of the Nintendo series on the Google Play Store , although it is still available on secondary platforms for Android devices. And Hey Monster was certainly not shy about it.

Featuring exact models of real Pokémon, the RPG raised a lot of eyebrows following the release of Pokémon GO. Some fans of Game Freak’s franchise enjoyed it, as it wasn’t all that bad graphically, but it’s one of the most blatant cases of plagiarism on the list.

I Am Hero: AFK Tactical Teamfight

• Genre: Role / Action.
• Developer: Imba Games.
• Platforms: Android / PC.
• Release year: 2020.

The iconic developer Riot Games, responsible for League of Legends and Valorant, tried to take down this clone of the spin-off Teamfight Tactics, which even plagiarized some texts (whole paragraphs) from the popular MOBA and its derivatives. It is the work of the Vietnamese developer Imba Games.

But the copy-paste wasn’t limited to just the texts, as I Am Hero also included models, skills and characters very similar to those in League of Legends . We’ll never know if it’s plagiarism as such, but it can’t be denied that Imba Games had few qualms about “getting inspired.”

Riot Games sues Vietnamese developer for plagiarism of League of Legends spin-off, Teamfight Tactics

Man Standing

• Genre: Adventure / Walking-Simulator.
• Developer: ALFINA GAMERS.
• Platforms: PC.
• Release year: 2019.

Before Cyberpunk 2088 got under CD Projekt’s skin, Chinese studio ALFINA GAMERS had already done the same with Death Stranding, the acclaimed game by Hideo Kojima. They received Steam’s approval to release Man Standing as a “parody game” of the 2019 title.

Of course, Man Standing is a parody of the Kojima Productions game, because it only has a Sam Porter clone and endless, completely empty wastelands . The game is supposed to be a laugh, and frankly, it achieves its goal for the first 15 minutes… at most.

Death Stranding Review

Mole Kart

• Genre: Driving.
• Developer: Shanghai Shengran Information Technology.
• Platforms: iOS / Android.
• Release year: 2012.

Less blatant than Hey Monster, but also killed off by Nintendo a few years ago, Mole Kart is a clear rip-off of Mario Kart (specifically, the Wii game), which replaces the Big N’s characters with animals and creatures from nature. Otherwise, there are hardly any differences.

From the design of the circuits to the technical aspects, driving mechanics or item system, Mole Kart proved to be a solvent copy of Mario Kart. On Android it is still possible to get it (through downloads outside the Google Play Store), but on iOS it has been completely eradicated .

This is Mole Kart, the Mario Kart clone for iOS

The Great Giana Sisters

• Genre: Platforms.
• Developer: Time Warp Productions.
• Platforms: Amiga / Amstrad / Atari ST / Commodore 64 / PC.
• Release year: 1987.

Nintendo usually cracks down on games that copy its works, but in this case, it didn’t do it directly. In 1987, the Germans at Time Warp Productions copied the mechanics of Super Mario Bros (the original from 1985) , but changed the two brothers to two sisters .

The Great Giana Sisters, contrary to popular belief, never received a copyright claim from Nintendo . However, a spokesperson for the Japanese company did acknowledge years later that they “convinced” Time Warp to stop selling the game in stores. It is considered a collector’s item.

Top 20 Commodore 64 Games

The Last Hope

• Genre: Adventure / Action.
• Developer: VG Games.
• Platforms: Nintendo Switch.
• Release year: 2023.

Plagiarising a masterpiece like The Last of Us in indie format (or not even that) didn’t seem like a bad idea, especially if it’s limited to a one-time release on the Nintendo eShop, the Switch’s digital store. That’s what VG Games must have thought, until Sony filed a copyright claim .

The Last Hope was a third-person zombie shooter with 3D graphics that looked like something straight out of the 1990s. Following a complaint filed by Sony, the game was pulled from the eShop, and even its videos were removed from YouTube and other similar platforms.

The Last of Us inspires Nintendo eShop’s latest shovelware gem

Unearthed: Trail of Ibn Batutta

• Genre: Adventure / Action.
• Developer: Semaphore.
• Platforms: PC / iOS / Android / PS3.
• Release year: 2013.

Unearthed: Trail of Ibn Batutta is a rip-off of the Uncharted saga (especially the third one), and it has no problem acknowledging it, and almost hinting at it, from the title itself. The development studio, Semaphore, was looking to surprise by releasing the first game for PlayStation 3 under the Unity engine. But the reception of ”Episode 1” was a disaster.

Criticised for its outdated technical aspects and poor mechanics, the adventure of Faris Jawad and his sister Dania lost momentum over the years. Its creators announced a sequel, which would use Unreal Engine 4 and would be released for PS4 and PS Vita . It disappeared without a trace.

Uncharted 4 Review: A Thief’s End

War of Gods: Zeus of Child

• Genre: Action.
• Developer: Dolaka LTD.
• Platforms: Xbox Series X|S / Xbox One / PC.
• Release year: 2022.

Taking advantage of the popularity of God of War: Ragnarok and the arrival of Kratos in Fortnite, a strange action game called War of Gods appeared on the Xbox digital store. It is one of those examples lacking in subtleties, since the model is Kratos in his original Greek version .

Everything else is not even remotely reminiscent of God of War, with hordes of generic enemies that we have to eliminate to get the maximum score. It was available on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC, but luckily for the public, it didn’t last long.

God of War PS4 Review

There are different levels of plagiarism. On the one hand, there are games that are inspired by or slightly “copy” the mechanics of other titles . The best example are the best clone games for PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch and PC , which we reviewed in their day.