Westworld was released for iOS and Android in June 2018. — AFP Relaxnews
An official Westworld mobile game has been pulled from app stores over similarities to Fallout Shelter, another population management title that released in 2015, and online services will be retired on April 16 this year.
Cybernetic theme park management game Westworld, styled after the hit HBO show of the same name, is no longer available to download from the iOS App Store and Google Play store.
Online functions for existing players are to be suspended in three months' time, on April 16.
New virtual currency purchases can no longer be made for the free app, and users with in-game currencies still remaining are being advised to deplete their balances before the game's closure.
The Westworld game's forerunner, Fallout Shelter, was released in June 2015 by Bethesda Softworks.
It was a first dip into mobile gaming and an appetite-whetter for console and computer game Fallout 4, released later that same year.
Bethesda's belief was that similarities between its app and the later Westworld extended beyond mere homage.
In fact, the Westworld developer was Bethesda's partner in the creation of Fallout Shelter and Bethesda successfully alleged that Westworld made unauthorised use of code lifted from the former project, as laid out in a lawsuit filed shortly after the Westworld app launched.
The Canadian studio, Behaviour Interactive, had produced Westworld for Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, having previously collaborated on console editions of the publisher's Lord Of The Rings licensed action game spin-off Middle-Earth: Shadow Of Mordor.
By 2016, Behaviour was better known for multiplayer survival horror game Dead By Daylight, which successfully integrated authorised characters from Halloween, A Nightmare On Elm Street, Saw and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Bethesda and Behaviour Interactive announced that they had reached joint resolution on Jan 3.
Perhaps significantly, another Behaviour app that drew comparisons to Fallout Shelter, Ubisoft franchise spin-off Assassin's Creed Rebellion, did not feature in the Bethesda suit.
It's been a busy few days of copyright-related removals after Microsoft's racing game Forza Horizon 4 took down two driver emotes styled after popular dance moves – the Floss and the Carlton Dances.
Breakout smash Fortnite had in December been on the receiving end of lawsuits from Russell Horning (the Backpack Kid) and Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air actor Alfonso Ribeiro, as well as rapper 2 Milly of the Milly Rock dance. – AFP Relaxnews
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