Solo devs game copied, sold under another name on Switch eShop, PS Store and others

While working on our weekly eShop release articles, we often come across some real rubbish being released on the eShop. Recently we reported on a game using the same name as the beloved Australian game Unpacking, weeks later it was removed. But now we have something that goes beyond just using the same name and concept – someone has seemingly decompiled a game and then uploaded it to consoles and called it something else. The gameplay, the sounds, the graphics—everything has been copied by the developer and is still being sold right now.

The game is based on the internet meme The Backrooms. Since the concept doesn’t really belong to any one person, and the meme has gained widespread popularity, there have been many games based on the original image, and even an episode of American Horror Story. These games have been on Steam for years founding a new sub-genre in horror titles. However, a one-person developer, Steelkrill, created this found-footage horror game based on the meme and called it The Backrooms 1998. It has been praised as one of the best of the sub-genre. The publisher for the game on consoles is Feardemic, and that’s what is listed on the eShop.

However, according to a post on Reddit, Steelkrill uncovered a complete copy of his game on the Nintendo Switch eShop. The game was also on the PlayStation Store and Xbox Store but they have since been removed from those store fronts. This isn’t just a case of using the same name—there are many Backrooms games on the Switch eShop—but this is a decompiled rip of Steelkrill’s game, with the exact same assets. It’s literal theft.

To make matters worse, Steelkrill believes the publisher listed on these games, COOL DEVS (or at least some representatives of them), had previously approached him to get his game onto consoles. He declined, and it seems that instead of taking the L, they decided to rip off his game.

COOL DEVS has a vast catalogue of games, most of which are AI-generated or asset-flipped garbage as you can see below, but now they’ve allegedly actually stolen a game.

Steelkrill has receipts, too—he has a comparison image, and if you check the two gameplay footage videos below, you’ll see the games are all but the same. They’ve changed a few things in the game, but it’s clearly still Steelkrill’s title.

Steelkrill has managed to get the game removed from both the PlayStation and Xbox stores. According to a report from Nintendo Life, Steelkrill has heard back from Nintendo but they’re still looking into it. Given that it took Witch Beam several weeks to hear back from Nintendo to get their Unpacking clone removed, we suspect Steelkrill will be waiting a while too.

But in the meantime, how many people will buy this cheaper copy of the game? YouTubers who have footage of the cloned game up are being blasted for showing it, but it looks like they were fooled as well.

This is not just a Nintendo Switch eShop issue; it has occurred on multiple storefronts with this game. It would be great if companies acted more quickly when this happens. While it’s good that Nintendo follows a due process, as such claims could be used maliciously, the best solution would be to implement better controls and procedures to prevent these questionable publishers from getting their games onto digital storefronts in the first place.

The Backrooms 1998 (the real game) is available now on the Nintendo eShop (US Link), PlayStation Store and Xbox store.