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Capcom is looking to “rebuild the trust of our fans and friends in the gaming community” after the company was scrutinised for similarities between new iPhone game MaXplosion and Twisted Pixel’s 2009 platformer ‘Splosion Man
Responding to the news that Twisted Pixel originally pitched ‘Splosion Man to Capcom, followed by a Tweet from Twisted Pixel programmer Mike Henry saying MaXplosion was “complete theft,” Capcom Mobile released a statement to Eurogamer:
“While Twisted Pixel did have discussions with our console game team about publishing ‘Splosion Man’ on game consoles, Capcom Mobile is a different division of Capcom with separate offices and as such, had no prior knowledge of any meetings between the console game team and Twisted Pixel.
“‘MaXplosion’ was developed independently by Capcom Mobile. Nonetheless, we are saddened by this situation and hope to rebuild the trust of our fans and friends in the gaming community.”
Co-founder Michael Wilford also clarified Twisted Pixel’s position to Eurogamer. “We’re definitely not going to pursue legal action,” he said.
“While I think the similarities are pretty nauseating,” he added, “we’re too small to take on a company like Capcom. That, and we owe them one for inventing Mega Man, so we’ll let them slide. I just hope they’re not counting on the fact that indies can’t fight back.”
Twisted Pixel is currently working on Ms. ‘Splosion Man, a follow-up to the well received original.
The description for MaXplosion on the App Store reads as follows: “MaXplosion is a pick up and play platformer that challenges you to escape the clutches of the nefarious M.A.D. (Ministry of All Destruction) organization. Fortunately, as Max you have the ability to explode at will allowing you to “bounce” off surfaces and reach far flung locations. Max’s predilection to explode also comes in remarkably handy as an offensive weapon against the M.A.D. scientists and evil minions attempting to thwart your escape.”
