The drama behind a Steam game stolen two months before launch

An indie game demo found success with a Chinese-speaking audience, but the visibility had a major repercussion

A few weeks ago, two-person studio Rike Games was thrilled to discover that a demo for its arcade-like game was gaining traction on the Chinese web. No one on the team knew the language, but they knew that making waves in Chinese-speaking markets could be a big business opportunity. After all, around half of all Steam users are estimated to be Chinese speakers. Plus, not only had the studio already paid for localization, but also, a Chinese publisher had contacted them about a potential deal. The game was still months away from launch, but the possibilities were already tantalizing.

Two weeks later, that excitement came crashing down. The game made enough of a splash that it evidently inspired a clone marketed to Chinese players. Unlike most game clones, this wasn't a case of someone lifting an idea or taking heavy aesthetic inspiration. The Steam devs claim that the impostor copy launched with the very same assets featured in a recently released demo. Worse, some Steam users noted that the official demo was short and had fewer features than its Chinese counterpart. Players started to call the other game the "maxed out version," Mike Gschwilm, one half of Rike Games, told Polygon over email.

The game at the center of it all is a clever incremental experience called Bills Must Be Paid. In it, players must smash piggy banks and collect money meant to pay a seemingly endless stream of bills. The premise is a simple one, but the appeal is evident within seconds. Much like Whack-a-Mole, there is something satisfying about smashing your targets with a hammer. As the player progresses, they discover more pig types that move and react in different ways. A large skill tree allows players to customize smaller details, like grip strength, luck, and even elemental damage.

"Absolutely loved it," reads one of the largely positive reviews for the demo on Steam. "Played this while I'm currently unemployed ... It's very satisfying for the piggies to get destroyed to the lovely chill music. It really helped me forget my real problems for a moment."

In the Chinese version of Bills Must Be Paid, everything from the sound effects, assets, and skill trees appears to be lifted straight from the original title. "There is even a note on the desk in the game, handwritten by me," Gschwilm told Polygon. The other major difference between the games is that the pilfered version contains ads.

It's difficult to know how well the Chinese game is selling, but it appears to be a hit. A single hashtag related to the knockoff of Bills Must Be Paid has accumulated 1.98 million video plays, Gschwilm said.

Right now, Rike Games is still trying to figure out what to do next. The team is small, and can't necessarily devote resources to fighting a legal battle in a different country. Despite the positive reception for the real game, there's no getting around the disappointment of being beaten to the punch well ahead of the intended July release.

Yet the concern for Rike Games isn't entirely that the other game and its more accessible platform might steal potential customers. It's that, because the Chinese version is based on the unfinished version of Bills Must Be Paid, its existence could harm the studio's brand. Gschwilm calls the usurper a "crappy" experience that lacks attention to finer details for things like shaders. Past a certain point, the fake take on the idea becomes unplayable, the developer says. And if people feel disappointed by the Chinese piggy game, they might assume Bills Must Be Paid won't be a good experience, either.

In a way, the only thing Rike Games can do for now is to keep moving forward. They hope that things like a prestige system, a wider swath of piggy types and hammers, and an actual ending will entice people.

"Currently our main focus is making the full game the best possible version, so that players will just ignore the clone and hopefully point other players to the official Steam version," Gschwilm said.