Unpacking
Image: Witch Beam

We've talked about copycats and scam games on the eShop many times — with a multitude of games using keywords and AI-generated screenshots and key art flooding the eShop, it's a huge problem for devs.

And now, the creative director of indie hit Unpacking has called Nintendo out on the lack of response to these games (via Eurogamer). Specifically, this follows on from a number of games and DLC sharing the same name as Witch Beam's beautiful puzzle game appearing on the eShop in late November.

Wren Brier has taken to Bluesky to voice her dissatisfaction with Nintendo, pointing out that these "egregious scams" — called Unpacking Universe Dreams, Unpacking: Deluxe Edition, and so on — are using "our trademarked game name" to trick customers.

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And she's absolutely right. To the average person, the title alone suggests that these copycats are related to the 2021 pixel art game, but further digging reveals different game modes and some uninspired screenshots. It's not a good look for Nintendo.

As we reported last time, CGI LAB has published several games and DLC on the eShop, many of which fit the keyword criteria we mentioned above with others looking exceedingly generic. 17 days without a response is extremely frustrating, and we hope action will be taken soon.

At the time of writing, the games are still up on the North American and European eShop. In fact, the copycat came up first when we searched for Unpacking on the European one.

If you haven't already played Unpacking, then you should absolutely check it out — it's a beautiful, surprisingly emotional game. Go send your support to Witch Beam.

We've reached out to Nintendo and will update you if anything changes with these Unpacking clones.

[source bsky.app, via eurogamer.net]