Poppy Playtime developer Mob Entertainment is suing Google for failing to remove “scam” apps from the Google Play store.
In legal papers filed on Wednesday (thanks, TorrentFreak), Poppy Playtime’s creators accuse Daigo Game 2020 Inc. of releasing “scam” apps intentionally advertised with names like Poppy Playtime: Chapter 3 and Poppy Playtime: Chapter 4 well before the instalments had been officially released for mobile devices.
As well as blatantly using Poppy Playtime’s name, promotional art also clearly uses Poppy Playtime’s characters and screenshots from the authentic game’s second chapter.
According to the complaint, Mob contacted Google numerous times over several months, but each time an erroneous app is removed, it simply pops back up again a day or two later.
The apps reportedly don’t even download a copycat or derivative game, either.
“Mob Entertainment’s trademarks and copyrighted material to trick consumers into spending up to $95 for a game prior to its release on Google Play. Instead, it asks users to pay $30 to $95 for the ‘Guide wuggy playtime mod’,” the complaint added.
“Google receives a direct financial benefit from the infringement by the users at least because users with devices containing the application are given an offer to purchase the Guide wuggy playtime mod for up to $95. If they make the purchase, Google then receives 15-30 percent of the proceeds.”
At the time of writing, the scam game is still available to view, and install, on the Google Play store. Unless players know, explicitly, who publishes the game, there’s absolutely no way of telling them apart, particularly as it doesn’t list a user score or link to user reviews.
Whilst the real game is a premium product and listed as having 10K+ downloads, the fake app has been downloaded over a million times.
“Google forfeited the benefits of the DMCA’s safe harbour provision for its infringement of Mob Entertainment’s copyrighted works contained in the unauthorised ‘Poppy Playtime: Chapter 3’ and ‘Poppy Playtime Chapter 4’ applications,” the court filing said.
“The unauthorised Poppy Playtime applications have tarnished Mob Entertainment’s Poppy Playtime [copyright] mark by associating it with poor quality applications that are nothing but bait-and-switch scams.
“Google’s illegal, unfair, and fraudulent business acts and practices have caused Mob Entertainment to spend copious amounts of resources, including its employees’ time, in a fruitless effort to attempt to get Google to remove applications committing copyright infringement, trademark infringement, fraud, and other unlawful and unfair business acts and practices.”
Mob Entertainment seeks “actual damages in an amount to be determined in excess of $75,000”, all of Daigo and Google’s profits from the scam apps, court costs, and $150,000 in damages per work infringed. It is also hoping for an injunction to prevent Google and Daigo violating its trademark in the future.
This is the latest in a line of game developers who have called out digital game stores for not promptly dealing with intentionally misleading or copyright-infringing games.
Just last month, the creative director of indie hit Unpacking, Wren Brier, called out Nintendo due to the prominence of copycat games on its Switch eShop, and days later, fans spotted Black Myth: Wukong imitations, too. The 2D platformer’s gameplay and presentation are markedly different, but its promotional art and title could easily be confused with that of Game Science’s blockbuster.