Unpacking developer slams the Nintendo eShop for allowing scammy copycats

Wren Brier, creative director of cozy hit Unpacking, recently took to Bluesky — the platform currently dethroning the stupid app formerly known as Twitter — to complain about how Nintendo is seemingly allowing cheap and sleazy Unpacking copycats to sell there and proliferate.

Let’s take a closer look.

Screenshot via Destructoid

If you’re browsing the eShop unaware of what Unpacking is, you might just think you’re looking at a game with a deluxe edition and a bunch of add-ons. It’s weird that the supposedly deluxe edition of Unpacking would be for sale for a fourth of the price of the base version, but stranger mistakes have been made in the history of online storefronts. Still, if you look at the fonts used on the thumbnail, you’ll notice they are very different from the ones presented in the base game’s thumbnail. Why would a game ditch its already rather simple font to go with something straight out of the copyright-free realm? Well, that’s because only the original Unpacking is the real deal. The remaining aren’t even rip-offs, they’re straight-up scams using Unpacking‘s registered trademark made to bank on the original’s good name by promising the same experience at a much lower price.

Here’s hoping this is no more than the result of Nintendo accidentally overlooking the issue, but Brier complains that these have been on the platform for over two weeks. That is just a weirdly long amount of time, especially for a company with such a quick trigger finger for all things litigious.

As one commenter wisely points out, “The company that patented and is trying to sue over the “thrown-ball-trap mechanics” doesn’t seem to understand the issue here?”

Unpacking, the surprisingly deep title about taking stuff out of boxes and placing them in a new home, isn’t new to being ripped off, with the previous copycat even topping the Google Play and iPhone sales charts before getting removed.

You can play Unpacking on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC, Linux, Mac OS, and Mobile.

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