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The solo developer of a Spyro the Dragon-inspired platformer, which has yet to be released, woke up to find a very, very similar game being sold on the Nintendo Switch eShop under the name of a different developer and publisher.
For some context, Zera: Myths Awaken is an in-development spiritual successor to the beloved Spyro the Dragon series. Initially conceived as a fan-made unofficial sequel, it eventually evolved into its own game with its own, original hero and setting. Solo developer Cyreides went on an indefinite hiatus back in 2022, citing their mental health, but there's a demo available on Itch.io with a lot of very positive reviews.
Now, enter Lotzo and The Ray of Light, a game available on the Switch eShop for $15 that bears a striking resemblance to Zera: Myths Awaken. Comparing the screenshots to gameplay footage from the Zera: Myths Awaken demo, you'd be forgiven for assuming they're the same game. But no, Cyreides took to Bluesky to call out what some are saying is a blatant ripoff made even more repugnant by the apparent use of AI-generated art.
for context if you're following me and don't know cyreides.itch.io/zerama
"Gad damn that's actually just the Zera demo with ugly color alterations and an AI cover isn't it," wrote one commenter. "Nintendo really doing their due diligence on that one. I imagine that means everything they've 'published' is stolen. Hopefully there's a recourse for you, that's terrifying."
"Wait this isn't just a look alike, it's almost like they completely ripped everything directly from Zera, and just changed the colors of the main character, slapped some bs AI art on it and called it a day. I'm absolutely livid and it's not even my game," said another commenter.
Cyreides themselves alleged, "the story, character designs, names of everyone but zera, level models and textures, animations, music, gameplay/code etc. all stolen from zera," adding that they believe "stuff from some other games" was stolen as well.
On Lotzo and the Ray of Light's Nintendo eShop page, the developer and publisher listed is Spacefarer Games, a self-described "leading UK-based indie game studio dedicated to building imaginative and immersive video games using the latest technologies.
"We research the latest development tools and use the same techniques as used in the film industry," the company says on its official website.
Doing a little digging, the studio has released several other games, but it seems this is the company's first significant controversy, having now drawn the ire of both Bluesky and Reddit users. One popular Reddit thread is warning potential eShop users to stay away from Lotzo and the Ray of Light, calling the game "theft and a scam."
It's perhaps relevant that, when I tried to visit the studio's official Twitter account, I was met with this ominous warning: "Caution: This account is temporarily restricted. You're seeing this warning because there has been some unusual activity from this account."
Once I clicked past that, I found an overwhelming majority of the comments under the studio's posts to be similar accusations of theft.
Cyreides, meanwhile, is taking the situation in stride, at least on Bluesky.
"Wonder if they'd give me a free key LMAO," they wrote.
Nintendo has been increasingly scrutinized for letting all sorts of garbage, from straight-up hentai games to blatant ripoffs, slip through its content filtration systems and onto the eShop. It's especially discouraging in the context of Nintendo's seemingly random enforcement of content guidelines on legitimate and highly acclaimed games like Dispatch, but such is life.
