Twisted Pixel chooses not to sue Capcom over iOS ripoff
Capcom Mobile recently released a new game for the iOS App Store called MaXplosion, and soon after, a few fans noticed the game bears a striking similarity to a game by Twisted Pixel for Xbox Live Arcade called 'Splosion Man. Aside from the names themselves, MaXplosion also allows the player to jump three times by exploding each time, has a similar-looking character also running around a lab space, and it even has a similar soundtrack.
We've noted before that intellectual property theft has run rampant on the App Store, and Gameloft has even earned a reputation for "borrowing" game styles from bigger console games. But this one's pretty flagrant -- not only is the ripoff pretty clear, but it's from Capcom's European development unit, a traditional gaming company that should know better. There's one more wrinkle: Twisted Pixel says it even pitched the game to Capcom's US offices before releasing it themselves on Xbox Live.
Despite the problem, Twisted Pixel has responded by saying it won't sue. Not only is the battle probably not worth it for the relatively small developer, but as CEO Mike Wilford says wittily, "we owe them one for inventing Mega Man, so we'll let them slide." He promises Twisted Pixel will put the extra time saved into a quality mobile game of its own. Fair enough.
