Mob Entertainment Sues Google Over Poppy Playtime Knockoff Games
Mob Entertainment, the studio behind the popular survival horror game Poppy Playtime, has taken legal action against Google for allowing what they are calling “scam” games that infringe on their intellectual property. According to Polygon, the studio filed a lawsuit alleging that Google has permitted unauthorized versions of Poppy Playtime to be distributed on the Google Play store.
The unauthorized games, such as Poppy Playtime Chapter 3 and Poppy Playtime Chapter 4, were not created by Mob Entertainment but are still available for download on the Google Play store. This has caused frustration for the studio, especially since Poppy Playtime is an episodic game. Mob Entertainment argues that by allowing these knockoff games to use the Poppy Playtime name and suggest they are new episodes, Google is enabling other developers to profit off the brand by deceiving fans.
Not only are these knockoff games using the Poppy Playtime name, but they are also allegedly using screenshots from Poppy Playtime 2 and presenting them as gameplay from the fake games. Despite multiple DMCA takedown requests and direct contact with Google, the knockoff games continue to resurface on the Google Play store.
According to the lawsuit, these unauthorized games have damaged Mob Entertainment’s reputation and have the potential to mislead users into spending money on a game that is not genuine. The lawsuit also claims that Google is benefiting financially from these scams.
“Google and Daigo’s unauthorized applications use 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,” the studio asserts. “Google receives 15% or 30% of all sales made by the unauthorized Poppy Playtime Chapter 3 or unauthorized Poppy Playtime Chapter 4 applications.”
As of now, Google has not publicly responded to the lawsuit.