Chapter 45: This Game Won't Be Popular
Su Jinyu said, "Store manager, shouldn't we sue this company?"
Jia Peng also nodded: "Yeah, store manager, send them a cease and desist letter!"
Chen Mo shook his head: "It's useless."
Su Jinyu was stunned: "Why? Store manager, don't jump to conclusions. Let's at least hire a lawyer and ask."
Chen Mo said, "Borrowing game mechanics is hard to prove as plagiarism. The easiest ways to determine game plagiarism are two things: one is similarity in art assets, and the other is identical text content in design documents. If neither of these can be confirmed, then basically, it's very difficult to protect your rights."
"So, even if we send them a cease and desist letter, it'll most likely end up in their trash bin."
Su Jinyu said somewhat indignantly, "But this game is way too similar to Plants vs. Zombies. Anyone with eyes can see that!"
Chen Mo said calmly, "But that's not enough to convict them."
Su Jinyu pouted a little, but couldn't argue back.
In fact, after transmigrating to the parallel world, Chen Mo had already done some research on the game industry here, especially regarding "game plagiarism," and had looked up a few cases.
Similar to his previous life, the parallel world determined game plagiarism mainly based on two aspects: one was art assets, music and sound effects, text content, etc., and the other was the game's basic design document, roughly equivalent to source code in his previous life.
These two aspects were the easiest to confirm as plagiarism. As long as solid evidence was obtained, a lawsuit was a sure win.
But precisely for the most crucial part, "gameplay," it was difficult to determine whether plagiarism had occurred.
In his previous life, the famous board game Three Kingdoms Kill once sued Three Kingdoms Slash, claiming it constituted "plagiarism of another's work."
But Three Kingdoms Slash argued that the work done by the game designer, including determining the design direction, framework, and detailed rules, fell under the "ideas" in copyright law, not the protected objects of copyright law.
In terms of pure game rules, Three Kingdoms Slash claimed that the entire design concept of Three Kingdoms Kill also imitated the Italian card game Bang!, turning the tables.
In the end, the incident ended with Shanda withdrawing the lawsuit.
There were many more examples in his previous life. "Borrowing" and "plagiarism" incidents in the game industry were everywhere. Except for a few cases with sufficient evidence, most "plagiarism" cases ended up unresolved.
Of course, this wasn't entirely due to imperfect laws. A very important reason was that the boundary between borrowing and plagiarism itself was extremely difficult to define.
Even the famous Monument Valley in his previous life was suspected of excessively borrowing (plagiarizing) from Echochrome.
Of course, the so-called "borrowing" could be called "plagiarism" in harsh terms, but in nicer terms, it was "inheritance" or "homage."
It was the same in the parallel world. Although people had a much stronger awareness of copyright and anti-plagiarism, it was still easy to infringe but hard to defend rights. Lawsuits took a long time, evidence was difficult to gather, and the time and monetary costs were high, often resulting in the plaintiff's gains being far less than the costs.
So, there were also some "plagiarism" cases in the parallel world, all ending up unresolved.
Chen Mo roughly looked at the content of the game Moon Defense. The art assets, music, and sound effects were all redone, leaving no trace of Plants vs. Zombies.
As for the game rules, although they were somewhat similar to Plants vs. Zombies, it was obvious that the designer had rewritten the design document from scratch, deliberately making modifications in many aspects to consciously avoid legal risks.
He could only say that this company, Feixian Interactive Entertainment, was probably a repeat offender. They knew exactly where the legal boundaries were and perfectly skirted the edges.
So, Chen Mo knew that if he sued, although public opinion would definitely be on his side, he basically wouldn't gain any advantage.
...
However, that didn't mean Chen Mo was helpless. This was already within his expectations.
Chen Mo downloaded the game, entered Moon Defense, and played through two levels.
"Don't worry, this game won't be popular," Chen Mo said.
"Huh? Why?" Su Jinyu asked.
Chen Mo handed the phone back to Su Jinyu: "Just play it yourself and you'll know."
"Won't be popular? Are you sure, store manager?" Wen Lingwei frowned.
Chang Xiuya also nodded: "Yeah, store manager, the graphics are pretty good, and it's free."
Chen Mo said firmly, "I'm sure. It won't be popular."
Jia Peng hesitated for a moment and asked, "Then, store manager, should we still go leave bad reviews?"
Chen Mo smiled: "Whatever, up to you."
After saying that, Chen Mo turned and walked upstairs.
"Store manager, don't go! You haven't told me why this game won't be popular!" Su Jinyu said.
Chen Mo turned around and said, "I still need to plan the new game. As for why this game won't be popular, you're a designer now, you should have your own judgment."
Chen Mo went upstairs.
Su Jinyu pouted a little, feeling a bit frustrated, and started playing Moon Defense.
She was a bit curious why Chen Mo was so certain that Moon Defense wouldn't be popular.
The others were also curious.
Jia Peng wondered, "The store manager seems really confident. How does he know this game won't be popular?"
Wen Lingwei said, "It might be because of the ratings. Look, everyone is spontaneously boycotting this game. With that kind of reputation, even if it's free, how many people would actually play it?"
Another guy said, "I think it might be because of the monetization method. When the store manager made Plants vs. Zombies, he didn't use ad-based monetization. He must have had his own reasons."
Jia Peng hesitated: "Then, should we still go leave bad reviews..."
Wen Lingwei said, "Of course. Come on, everyone, let's go leave bad reviews, then uninstall!"
Su Jinyu felt that everyone's points made sense, but she still felt that Chen Mo must have another reason.
Su Jinyu decided to play Moon Defense.
First level: The game guided the player to set up an energy supply station on the lunar base, then install a turret cannon to defeat the invading insectoids.
Second level: New insectoids appeared, and new defense facilities were unlocked.
Third level: Still constantly unlocking new gameplay...
Su Jinyu played level after level. By the time she reached the third level, she already wanted to uninstall the game.
It was too similar to Plants vs. Zombies. So much so that Su Jinyu felt like she was playing the Adventure Mode of Plants vs. Zombies for a second time. Many things she had long gotten tired of, Moon Defense was still seriously guiding her to complete.
"Strange, why is the game content so similar to Plants vs. Zombies, and the quality isn't bad, but I just can't bring myself to keep playing..."
Su Jinyu couldn't help but ponder.