Myth of Empires, a multiplayer sandbox game developed by Angela Games, has been delisted from Steam after its creators were accused of stealing and using source code from Ark: Survival Evolved.
As reported by PC Gamer, Ark developer Studio Wildcard and parent company Snail Games claim Angela Games was founded in 2020 by a least one former Snail Games China employee “who had access to the Ark source code.”
Studio Wildcard staff also claim that Myth of Empires uses “identical gameplay mechanics” to Ark, and suggest these striking similarities go “beyond the possibility of coincidence.”
A preliminary analysis conducted by Wildcard staff allegedly turned up “hundreds of matching class, variable, and function names,” indicating that Ark source code was used to build Myth of Empires. After informing Valve of their findings, the company has removed Myth of Empires from its popular Steam marketplace.
Angela Games, however, denies all wrongdoing. In a statement shared online, the company said it “owns all rights and property associated with Myth of Empires and will actively respond to any doubts or allegations on this point.”
“A few days ago, Steam received allegations of suspected copyright infringement concerning Myth of Empires, and in accordance with the DMCA and to exempt itself from liability, has temporarily removed Myth of Empires from its store,” wrote the studio.
“We are in active contact with Steam and are doing our best to restore the game to their store. We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused players. At the same time, we will continue to improve the overall optimization of Myth of Empires as well as maintain normal operations and development work.
“We are currently preparing a large number of content updates that cannot be brought online due to the current special circumstances, but players that have purchased Myth of Empires can rest assured that we are confident we will bring you a better gaming experience.”