Minecraft gets cloned by cheap shameless knock-off

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In Minecraft – much like Forrest Gump’s infamous box of confectionaries – you never know what yer gonna get. Uncertainty is one of the things that make it great – that each new game has scope to be entirely different from the last. With Minecraft: Pocket Edition 2 – a game that appeared on Apple’s App Store today – you should know exactly what yer gonna get: a cheap, shameless Minecraft knock-off.

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As reported by Eurogamer earlier today, a Reddit user stumbled across the fake, non-Mojang sponsored Minecraft wannabe on the US App Store chart; sitting in fourth place, priced at $7.

The game’s description, alongside its imagery, makes it sound like an official product. “Minecraft is a game about breaking and placing blocks,” it reads. “Minecraft II is taking those activities to a whole new level of excellence and uniqueness. At first, people built structures to protect against nocturnal monsters, but as the game grew players worked together to create wonderful, imaginative things.

“Explore randomly generated worlds and build amazing things from the simplest of homes to the grandest of castles. Play in creative mode with unlimited resources or mine deep into the world in survival mode, crafting weapons and armor to fend off the dangerous mobs. Craft, create, and explore alone, or with friends on mobile devices or Windows 10.”

Eurogamer also reports downloading the game, only to be met with a top-down swipe affair with zombies and Scorpion from Mortal Kombat. In essence, nothing like Minecraft at all.

“It’s great that Minecraft has inspired people to create amazing things, but when a product attempts to dupe our community or exploit their enthusiasm for the game, it’s our responsibility to step in,” Mojang’s Owen Hill told Eurogamer in a statement. “Our dedicated enforcement team are extremely busy!”

Worse still, Reddit reports seller “Scott Cawthorn” as flogging a Five Nights At Freddy’s phony into the bargain. It goes without saying, I suppose, but make sure to avoid this like the plague. That said, I can’t help but echo the question raised on Reddit: how does this stuff sneak through Apple’s review process?

Thanks, Eurogamer.