On Steam, there are great indie titles, one of which features dwarves beating up orcs, but not just the fans think that’s cool.
What kind of game is this? The Austrian developer “ichbinhamma” has created an indie dwarf game called “Dwarves: Glory, Death and Loot.” In it, you assemble a legion of up to 10 dwarves that you lead into battle against orcs and bosses.
As a mix of auto-battler, rogue-like, and RPG, you gather your legion, equip them, give them abilities, and choose their next opponent. The battles are automated. So, the game revolves around creating the best legion to defeat the orcs.
The game is available on Steam for €13.79 and has received 77% positive reviews from over 800 submissions. According to the game’s developer, around 50,000 units have already been sold, and the game is a success, but he is not the only one who wanted to profit from it.
Here you can watch the trailer for Dwarves: Glory, Death and Loot.
Another developer steals the game, forgets the ESC key
How was the game stolen? Dwarves: Glory, Death and Loot was apparently so successful that other developers came up with the idea of stealing the game. An unknown person downloaded the game and created a mobile version, which he then offered in the Google Play Store. It seems that he was only in it for the money, as the first thing he implemented was microtransactions.
What the thief forgot was to properly change the controls, as the tutorial required pressing the ESC key, which is a bit inconvenient on a mobile device. Some unsuspecting players who had the game from the Google Play Store complained to the original developer. This is how he became aware of the situation.
How did the developer fight back? The developer was unsure how to proceed, as a complaint to Google support had been unsuccessful. On Reddit, he sought help and received it.
The Reddit users advised him:
- He should hire a lawyer and try to claim money from the foreign developer, even if the chances of success are rather slim.
- He should file a DMCA request to have the game removed from the store.
Several users also reported the game in the Google Play Store.
What is a DMCA request? A DMCA request is a request under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which, in very simple terms, requires websites to remove copyrighted content in a short period of time. These requests are usually processed very quickly because severe penalties can be imposed.
How did it end? The DMCA request from the Austrian developer “ichbinhamma” was answered by Google within a few days. Google removed the game from the Google Play Store, and it is no longer accessible there.
Contrary to user recommendations, the developer seems to be unwilling to take legal action against the unknown thief. On Reddit, he revealed that he does not expect much chance of success in that case.
Thus, the developer will not be compensated for the efforts around the removal of the game from the Play Store and the losses he incurred due to missed customer purchases.
Another indie game is also doing well at the moment; it has reinvented an old and gruesome game: Dark game reinvents Russian Roulette and becomes a hit on Steam
