SMART PHONEYS

How cloners are getting savvier with their tactics

One of the issues with cloning in recent years, according to Ali, is that “cloners are getting smarter”. Where before they would directly rip a game and release an exact copy onto the market, they are now copying the code and creating altered ‘lookalike’ versions from it in order to avoid detection. “They do this by making a subtle change, like tweaking the name of the game, but will refer back to the game they’re cloning by using a marketing asset – such as a screenshot or trailer – in the listing or referring to the original game name in the metadata to make sure they show up in search.”