The creative director of indie hit Unpacking, Wren Brier, criticized Nintendo due to the prominence of copycat games in its Switch eShop.
Specifically, CGI Lab's Unpacking Universe Dreams (and its DLC packs) were added to the store on October 26, inviting players to “explore a whimsical world where each box contains new adventures” while “unpacking and organizing items into locations.” vibrant.” each with its own unique atmosphere.”
Earlier today, Brier posted on Bluesky once again, stating that Nintendo has not responded to reports of these “egregious scams.”
“It's been over two weeks and they're still on the eShop,” Brier wrote. “Nintendo has not responded to any of our reports regarding these egregious scams that use our trademarked game name and intentionally mislead Nintendo customers into purchasing cheap counterfeits.”
It's been over two weeks and they're still on the eShop. Nintendo has not responded to any of our reports about these egregious scams that use our trademarked game name and deliberately trick Nintendo customers into purchasing cheap counterfeits.
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— Wren Brier (@wrenegade.bsky.social) December 16, 2024 at 05:55
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This is not the first time that Unpacking developers have faced this type of scam. In 2022, another Unpacking copycat was removed from the iOS and Google Play Store after topping their highest download charts.
“If you've recently seen an ad for a game suspiciously similar to Unpacking for mobile, know that this is not our game,” the official Unpacking account explained at the time. “Yet they seem to want to give the impression that it is!”
Eurogamer has contacted Nintendo for further comment.
This is also not the only game in the store from Moldovan studio CGI Lab. Two other games from the developer are currently included: SCP-087 The Stairwell Horror and Abyss: Backrooms Pools Horror. However, as Nintendo Life previously reported, the developer has released games like Video Game Store: Supermarket Simulator, Car Parking Legends: Drive & Park Adventure, and Anime Puzzle Quest: The Magical Girls Adventure. All of these are no longer in the store and CGI Lab's website does not list their games.
The Switch eShop has long been scrutinized, particularly for its prevalence in hentai games. As a result, in 2022, Nintendo revised its eShop rules on adult content.
More recently, Tencent came under fire for its game Light of Motiram, which is heavily inspired by Sony's Horizon games, or Horizon Zero Originality, as Tencent's game has been jokingly nicknamed.
Unpacking was Eurogamer's game of the year in 2021 for its moving storytelling.