Cloning is not a new issue for Apple’s iOS marketplace, but the hell hath no fury like a beloved indie scorned. The latest victim is Die Gute Fabrik’s Johann Sebastian Joust, a game we featured in last year’s Big Live Live Show Live!
Gamasutra noticed developer Ustwo had just released Papa Quash for the iPhone, which looks an awful lot like Die Gute Fabrik’s own creation. The video tells the story better than words.
In Johann Sebastian Joust, players walk around with Move controllers and attempt to knock around the other Move controllers, as music plays in the background. The music determines how fast or slow players can move. The faster the music, the faster you can move. Move too fast or get knocked by another player--boom, you’re out.
In Papa Quash, it’s the same idea, except swap Move for iPhone.
Johann Sebastian Joust has been in perpetual development, despite endless positive press, for a while now, and it’s still unclear if it will see a proper release on PlayStation 3 or otherwise.
Thing is, Ustwo even admits Papa Quash took direct inspiration from Johann Sebastian Joust. The studio told Gamasutra that ex-Big Brother UK contestant Sam Pepper contracted Papa Quash from Ustwo, and Ustwo was reportely told Die Fubrik Gathe had been contacted and signed off.
"We're not into cloning,” said Ustwo's marketing director Steve Bittan to the site. “We genuinely care about what we do and out reputation in the indie community."
Die Gute Fabrik claims that never happened.
"We've been getting a lot of inquiries lately. We're working on an official response - hopefully by tonight,” said the company this morning Twitter. "Just to be clear, we have never and would never approve, give permission, or encourage anyone to clone of any of our games."