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Gameloft dismisses copycat criticisms, 'there is maybe one new idea a year'

No minced words

Gameloft dismisses copycat criticisms, 'there is maybe one new idea a year'
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French publisher Gameloft may be one of the largest game makers on iPhone, and it consistently cranks out high quality, must-have apps, but there’s one criticism constantly levelled against the game maker: plagiarism.

Some unfavourable critics might say Shadow Guardian has a whiff of Naughty Dog’s Uncharted series and N.O.V.A. is more than a little reminiscent of Bungie’s sci-fi shooter epic, Halo.

Gameloft’s most recently announced game, an unnamed fantasy adventure teased yesterday, immediately reminded us of The Legend of Zelda.

In a recent interview, IGN Wireless asked Gameloft CEO Michel Guillemot his opinion on these claims of copycat game making. "The video game industry has always played around a limited number of themes,“ he says. “There is maybe one new idea a year."

He goes on to reference the huge number of snazzy action games released in God of War's wake, and open-world crime games made following Grand Theft Auto - two games that Gameloft has notably payed homage to, in Hero of Sparta and Gangstar: Miami Vindication.

“If a type of game is not available, then you should make it,” Guillemot says. “The damaging thing is if you do a bad expression of a good idea," He also says Gameloft is providing experiences that mobile gamers might never see. You’re not going to find a Zelda adventure on Android, that’s for sure.

Gameloft vice president Gonzague de Vallois gave our sister site PocketGamer.biz a slightly less wordy answer when interviewed in 2009. "People want these games," he says. "We look at what is going to be successful on iPhone and move forward from there."

Mark Brown
Mark Brown
Mark Brown is editor at large of Pocket Gamer