Loot Drop had a game cloned before one line of code was written

Loot Drop, creators of the seemingly in-limbo Cloudforest Expedition, have experienced copycatting firsthand. During a panel at Inside Social Apps, the developer's COO and designer Brenda Garno Brathwaite admitted that Loot Drop has suffered cloning before the studio even began work on its game idea. And the nameless publisher had the nerve to approach Loot Drop as a consultant.

"We had a meeting with a publisher and a game designer discussed an idea for a game," Brathwaite told Inside Social Games during the panel. "The publisher came back next week and said they'd be making the game and they might need us to consult on it. That game had been cloned before a line of code had even been written."

Of course, for those who've been following the social games world for the past two months (much less the past two years) will know that Loot Drop is far from the first to fall victim to cloning. That said, Brathwaite has pegged the industry for its "fast-follow" practices.

"In the traditional space, a great game would come out and you would say 'how can we make a game that good and improve on that?' What we have now is 'how can we change the narrative and make the same game?' That's like putting out the Peaches of Wrath rather than the Grapes of Wrath," Brathwaite said. "In any other medium it would be considered a tremendous fail and I think its because the space is about monetization and not about creativity." Brenda, trust us, you're preachin' to the choir.

Do you see copycatting as a problem in the social games industry? What do you think can be done to stop it? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.