Developer accused of ripping another Developers game, Iron Soldiers.

Well isn't this just a sad bit of news to hit the virtual airwaves this afternoon. A developer called cyberniko from Vuxia decided to release his new game, Iron Soldiers, onto the XDA-forums for an open beta test. Usually this is a good idea because you can get valuable feedback about bugs and suggestions. It didn't work out that way though.

Another developer apparently decided to take the unsigned .apk file, sign it themselves and release it as their own game onto the Android Market. After notice about this had been raised by the original developer, it was pulled off the Android Market but not before it was cached into sites like Androlib. This unfortunately means the developer could end up having to change the name of the game.

As Phandroid has said, who originally reported this story, if this is true then any type of boycotting of this developers other games is needed whether it is leaving 1 star ratings, refunding, not buying any of them in the first place and whatever else. This is of course considering the accusations are true which they seem to be pretty reputable.

The developer in question goes by the name DavinciDevelopers and if this is true, should not be supported in any way. This isn't the first time questionable copies of games arrive on the market, look at the Cut the Rope clone for example. However, this is the first time we have heard of anything like this happening in the way that it did. It is outright theft and breach of trust.

Remember, if you are going to offer an Open Beta, or even a closed one, protect your product! Sign your .apk, protect it however you see fit. Just make sure you do instead of giving the game out unprotected. We downloaded the new beta of Iron Soldiers and will be giving it a whirl over the next couple of days. Stay tuned for more information on this game, it looks great.

Be sure to give the developer some good feedback over at XDA if you download the beta.

Website Referenced: Phandroid

Developer Website: Vuxia | Beta Download