Game developers running roughshod over the intellectual property of others is an all too common occurrence on Kickstarter. Whether they’re trying to turn Saturday morning cartoon icons into mascots for gambling, reviving a beloved series they have no rights to, or just stealing someone else’s content, the shadier side of Kickstarter never ceases to be entertaining.

Case in point, the Kickstarter campaign for Greanwold’s World; or more specifically its pitch video.  It’s easy to appreciate the earnestness of the developers pitch for this kids game/website, if not be impressed by it.  However, the real kicker comes at the end, with this no-so-subtle legal warning.

The legal warning at the end of the Greanwold World Kickstarter videoWhile such harsh warnings aren’t entirely necessary and are even off-putting, people need to protect their work, so it’s no big deal.  That makes the next portion of the video that much more entertaining.

The Greenwold's World logo over the logo for Double FIne Productions The Cave.Hmmm.  That seems awfully familiar.  Almost like the developers crudely put their artwork over another developers work.

The Cave from Doublefine ProductionsAhh yes, that’s exactly what they did.

What’s hilarious is that the Greanwold’s World folks didn’t take some obscure artwork from some little-known artist that no one would recognize.  No, here we have the logo from a popular game from Double Fine Productions, a company headed by the godfather of videogame crowdfunding himself, Tim Schafer.

About the Author

Greg Micek

Greg Micek has been writing on and off about games since the late nineties, always with a focus on indie games. He started DIYGames.com in 2000, which was one of the earliest gaming sites to focus exclusively on indie games.

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