Update: The two indie developers involved have "settled our differences." In a tweet, Hacktic apologized, saying that "I can definitely understand that I've stepped over the line with taking inspiration," and that "it is definitely not my intention" to "make a rip-off" of Vleugels' game. They'll be making changes to Flora Corner's visual style over the coming week, while Vleugels says that they've offered to help with that process.
Original: An indie developer whose prolific creation of free-to-use dev tools saw them gain the name 'Asset Jesus' within their community says that they're the latest creator to have their work all-but stolen by another developer.
Developer Kenney Vleugels is working on a Sims-style diorama game called MakeRoom. Vleugels, who is also a prolific asset creator who allows other developers to use their work, unveiled the game earlier this year, and has released a demo available via Steam and Itch.io. In a post earlier today, however, they highlighted another game, Flora Corner, and the similarities between the two titles.
It is absolutely disheartening to see my game get copied to such a degree, down to the little sounds. I give a lot to the community, but please don't just copy my game. This just sucks to see, it rips the fun out of being creative. 💔 https://t.co/DOfFeAutAIJuly 1, 2024
Flora Corner is another Sims-style diorama game, but Vleguels says "it's not just another game where you decorate rooms. So many elements are directly copied; the environment, UI, effects, sounds, toolbar, animations." In their original tweet, they also say that it's "absolutely disheartening to see my game get copied to such a degree."
Flora Corner's developer released its previous game in April, and made no mention of its new project until last week. The similarities with Vleugels' work are immediately apparent, and stretch to far more than just gameplay. For Vleugels, however, one of the major issues is that this alleged "copy" "rips the fun out of being creative."
Copies like this appear to be a growing issue on Steam. Last month, PC Gamer reported on a similar case in which a dev found his game cloned and uploaded to Steam by an acquaintance who then claimed that this kind of thing "happens every day."
Keep an eye on the horizon with our list of upcoming indie games.
