A new soulslike on Steam is allegedly copied from Elden Ring. The developers claim they were not aware of any similarities.
What game is it about? Black Faith: Forsaken is a new soulslike that was released on Steam on March 10, 2023. It is developed by the indie developer “Archangel Studios”.
The game relies on the genre-typical gameplay difficulty and challenging boss fights. Additionally, there are various classes for you to choose from, as well as an open world.
The setting of the soulslike is relatively dark, placing you in a merciless world where only remnants of civilization remain.
What is the accusation? Black Faith: Forsaken is accused by the soulslike community of stealing animations from Dark Souls and the Game of the Year 2022, Elden Ring.
For instance, Twitter user “Meowmaritus” posts a comparison of both games and states that the animations of Black Faith are identical to those of Elden Ring. The user is a developer who creates tools for designing mods for “Dark Souls” games.
In this regard, Meowmaritus emphasizes that he does not tolerate his tools for exporting animations being used to incorporate those exported animations into commercial products or to sell them.
How did the developers unintentionally copy? On the official Discord server of Black Faith: Forsaken, a member of the development team writes that they did not consciously copy from Elden Ring. The developer explains that he purchased some animations from the Unreal Engine Marketplace by Epic Games.
In the Epic Games Marketplace, designers and developers can sell individual assets that they have created themselves and for which they hold the copyrights.
The developer of Black Faith: Forsaken insists that he assumed the seller was legitimate and was not aware of any similarities.
I was definitely not aware that any of the animations resembled anything else, I just thought we were doing business with a legitimate company and that their work fit our vision of combat. If it turns out that this seller is not legitimate, we have all been victims of malicious behavior. I have also reached out to the seller’s email.
Archangel Studios via Discord
What are the developers doing now? On Discord, the developers of Black Faith: Forsaken state that they have contacted Epic Games customer service because they bought the allegedly copied animations in the Epic Games Marketplace.
Epic Games has reportedly pointed out that all Marketplace sellers must assert that they hold the copyrights to the products, but Epic Games cannot verify this (via Twitter).
Furthermore, the developers of Black Faith: Forsaken have reached out to the seller of the animations. The Marketplace page for the animations is no longer accessible (via unrealengine.com).
On Discord, the developers ultimately conclude that they will work on alternative animations – even if it should turn out that the sale of the animations was legitimate, as they aim to create something unique and original with their own game.
FromSoftware has certainly created something unique and original with Elden Ring and has now officially announced the first story DLC.
The Game of the Year 2022 announces its first story DLC – “Never been so excited to die more”
