Remember those “Lvl 1 Crook, Lvl 35 Boss” ads? These developers are now copying the art of popular titles like God of War and Horizon Zero Dawn to promote their game Chief Almighty.
Sony Santa Monica creative director Cory Barlog spotted a Chief Almighty ad on November 29, although studio Yotta Games has been doing it for a while. He answered a user’s question about whether God of War was worth playing. “Nah. This is better,” Barlog wrote on Twitter, showing an ad mimicking a poster of Santa Monica’s game.
nah.
this is better.🙃 https://t.co/tzpQqF0PD3 pic.twitter.com/a9G2c2Ng1I
— cory barlog 🖖 (@corybarlog) November 29, 2021
Guerilla Games community lead Bo Marit replied to the tweet, saying, “Oh no, Cory, they got you too.” She shared a Chief Almighty poster mimicking that of Horizon Zero Dawn.
that is sooooooooo good!!!😁❤️
— cory barlog 🖖 (@corybarlog) November 29, 2021
These ads were later spotted by Niko Partners senior analyst Daniel Ahmad. It turned out that Chief Almighty creators also copied the visuals of Far Cry 3 and Far Cry Primal. Ahmad noted that Yotta Games is the same company that “owns Mafia City and did those level up ads that went viral some time back.”
Checked out the other ads for this game and it’s wild lmao https://t.co/4zIWczgnJb pic.twitter.com/jwyZJIuNTh
— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) December 1, 2021
While Yotta Games is definitely not the only mobile company that copies other games, there is a not-so-thin line between taking inspiration from other titles and ripping them off.