Nintendo has been on a warpath as of late, issuing DMCA notices to a variety of fan-made games based on its popular IPs. And now, following its latest takedown, one developer is taking a jab at the company with a new game, titled DMCA's Sky — and it looks like there is nothing that Nintendo can do about it.
The latest game that Nintendo set its lawyers upon was ASMB Games' No Mario's Sky — a game that combines elements of the famed Mario series and Hello Games' No Man's Sky. At first glance, the game seems complicated because of it possessing elements of NMS. In reality, however, the game is remarkably simple: it's a basic side-scroller that allows the player to fly to other planets to stomp more goombas.
Unfortunately, the game was too similar to Mario and Nintendo filed a DMCA notice to have the game removed. In a notice posted on the website, ASMB reveals that its game was the latest to fall victim to Nintendo, but informed everyone that it will continue to live on under a thinly-veiled guise: DMCA's Sky.
"No Mario's Sky is no more-io," says ASMB on the original game's page. "Due to a copyright claim by Nintendo we've had to take the game down. DMCA's Sky is our replacement."
In the new game, Mario is replaced by Finn, Princess Peach by Princess Mango, and goombas by moombas. It isn't overly inventive, but it doesn't contain names from the Mario series, likely protecting it from future DMCA notices.
"Help Spaceman Finn search for Princess Mango in an infinite universe (that may contain no Mangoes). Made in 72 hours for Ludum Dare 36," the new description for the game reads. "Featuring crazy Moombas, An Infinite Universe, Muscle, Amazing Physics and a Radical Space Ship; DMCA's Sky is the hackneyed remake-gone-mashup you've been craving."
This is the latest instance of Nintendo issuing a takedown notice on a game based on one of its IPs. Last month, Project AM2R, a fan remake of Metroid 2, and Pokemon Uranium, a game that was in development for nine years, were forced to end operations. And just last week, Game Jolt was asked to take down hundreds of free fan-made creations for infringing on Nintendo's trademarks and copyright.
While those games are gone, DMCA's Sky lives on, so if it sounds like your cup of tea, then you can download it for free via Itch.io, where you'll also find an FAQ as well as a link to sign up to ASMB's mailing list.
