Apple’s Weeding Out Wordle Knock-Offs in the App Store
Copying and an accusation of copying in the App Store. Starting with the copying - have you played Wordle? Wordle is a daily, online word game. Kind of like “Master Mind,” if you remember that. You get six chances to figure out the five-letter word of the day. CNET says “hundreds of thousands of people” are playing. No log-ins. No subscriptions. No ads. No wonder copycats copied it.
How do you know which one’s fake? If it’s in the App Store, it’s fake. Wordle happens in the browser and doesn’t cost anything. Meanwhile CNET says, “[t]he Wordle wannabes range in price with some costing $1 or $2, while one version had an annual subscription of $30.”
The piece says Apple’s been killing the clones, but more keep coming. Search the App Store for “Wordle” and you’ll find several games that steal the gameplay or steal the gameplay and the name. My favorite one is “Wordle - Word Puzzle- A Free Word Game with a Twist.” It costs $1.99, which - you’ve got to admit, is a “twist” for a “free word game.”
PUBG Wants Free Fire Extinguished
As for the copycat accusation, Cult of Mac says “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds” (PUBG) publishers Krafton and PUBG Santa Monica are suing Apple and Google over “‘Free Fire,’ a battle royale game developed by Garena Online.” According to the PUBG peeps, “Free Fire uses several copyrighted aspects of PUBG, including its game structure, in-game items, equipment, and locations.” They’ve asked Apple and Google to pull the alleged knock-off from their respective stores, though both companies have declined. And so, the piece says:
[Krafton and PUBG Santa Monica] are now suing Apple and Google in a bid to force their hands. Their lawsuit also calls for damages, and for Free Fire gameplay videos and a live-action dramatization based on the game to be removed from YouTube.
