God Of War Director Calls Out Mobile Game's Blatant Plagiarism
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but when it comes to the blatant rip-off of a AAA game, things are a little different.
There seems to be a bizarre wave of lesser games copying major release, and after a Walking Dead game was accused of stealing Resident Evil 2 assets, God of War is the latest game laughing off its copycats.
Which Game Is Accused Of Plagiarising God Of War?
Mafia City developer Yotta games is back with another piece of marketing genius. Remembering that Mafia City's viral marketing campaign led to huge sales, this is a risky (but well-timed) idea. This time, mobile game Chief Almighty is in the firing line.
Former God of War Director Cory Barlog has shared the cover for Chief Almighty, which looks like a not-so-subtle riff on both Sony Santa Monica's beloved Norse slasher and Guerilla Games' Horizon Zero Dawn. Barlog joked, "Nah, this is better," when someone asked if they should play GoW.
After directing 2007's God of War II, Barlog returned for 2018's God of War soft reboot that's gone on to be heralded as one of the best video games of all time. Even though he's remained close to God of War Ragnarok, Barlog has handed over the reins to Eric Williams.
Will Chief Almighty Get In Trouble?
Guerrilla Communications Lead Bo Marit also shared artwork of an arrow-wielding heroine taking on a T-Rex - which is a clear homage to Horizon. Now that Chief Almighty is on the radar of two big PlayStation exclusives, will Yotta feel the full fury of Sony?
Video game analyst Daniel Ahmad did a side by side of Chief Almighty' artwork alongside the above, as well as Far Cry: Primal and Far Cry 3. By the looks of Barlog and Marit's tweets, they aren't taking this artwork too seriously.
It's true that you can't technically trademark "man running in front of mammoth", so it's unclear if there would be any legal standing for a case like this.
Yotta hasn't actually used assets from other games, so this might be one of creative licensing. We guess McDonuts and Burger Queen are laughing their socks off right now.