Game Hype: Donut County Got Cloned Already

Looks like a game I've been waiting on for a long time has been ripped-off, even before it's been released. I think, I first got to play it at UCLA'S Game Night at the Hammer a few years back or IndieCades ago. It's called Donut County. News of it being cloned a having the original creator lose out on income pissed me off. It snagged my attention, because I've seen this thing grow up over the years from early build to having a story. And it's from someone in the LA game making community.

Ben Esposito, who has some good games his worked on underneath his belt like The Unfinished Swan and What Remains of Edith Finch is the creator of Donut County. He's been working on Donut County for a very long time and it's finally due out this year. In the game you control holes and grow them bigger and bigger, like Katamari Damacy. Now, there's a story in the game about a delivery service and a mischievous racoon and I honestly can't wait to play through the finished game.

Ben wasn't happy when he found a clone of his game called hole.io had already come out from publisher Voodoo as a game app on your phone.

hey all, i didn’t think it was possible but my upcoming game @donutcounty now has a cheap clone at the top of the app store lol. here’s more info.

thanks to everyone who emailed me about this!! to get updates on the real deal sign up at https://t.co/b4cl57Pcgl pic.twitter.com/hjvUIrgJan

— ben esposito (@torahhorse) June 25, 2018

You can read more about it here over at Engadget, though there doesn't seem to be any talk of legal ways of stopping hol.io from existing as it's really just one man trying to finish his game. But you can tell Voodoo that you're not happy with them publishing a game that someone else is still making.