San Francisco, CA – A small indie game developer, VoltekPlay, recently discovered the unexpected success of their game, My Baby or Not! on iOS, thanks to a sudden surge in traffic on their itch.io page originating from Google search. It was only after adding a player poll asking where users found their game that VoltekPlay uncovered the source – popular TikTok videos showcasing the iOS version of their game.
The TikTok videos inadvertently referred to the game as “Diapers, Please!” which led thousands of intrigued players to search for the actual game name and find their way to VoltekPlay’s page. Unfortunately, some players may have mistakenly ended up on a copycat version on the App Store instead of the original developer’s page.
The $2.99 iOS release of My Baby or Not! rapidly rose in the paid games charts, amassing an estimated 20,000 downloads overall, according to Sensor Tower. Interestingly, Marwane Benyssef, the credited developer of My Baby or Not!, has a history of releasing games on iOS that appear to be replicas of games originally found on itch.io.
Benyssef’s first iOS game, Kiosk Food Night Shift, is suspected to be a direct copy of the original Kiosk game available on itch.io, which was later released on Steam. VoltekPlay took action by filing a DMCA copyright claim against My Baby or Not!, prompting Apple to intervene by removing Benyssef’s developer page and all associated games from the iOS App Store.
Following the incident, Apple encouraged the involved parties to resolve the copyright claim directly. Despite the lack of response from Apple regarding the situation, it is clear that the repercussions of releasing copycat games can have significant consequences on developers’ reputations and visibility in the competitive mobile gaming market.
Ultimately, the episode serves as a cautionary tale for aspiring game developers to prioritize originality and adherence to copyright laws to avoid legal conflicts and potential damage to their brand in the digital marketplace. The intersection of social media influence, app store visibility, and copyright protection highlights the complex dynamics at play in the rapidly evolving world of mobile gaming.