In a bold, low-effort act of plagiarism, Tank BATTLEGROUNDS is coming to Steam, but appears to be nothing more than a shoddy copy of Battlefield 1942. It becomes clear within moments that the trailer, screenshots, and maps are literal copies with poor editing wherever the name Battlefield 1942 would appear, but is so badly done that one reference was missed, clearly stating the name of the original game.

The Steam page for the has since changed, likely in response to the obvious theft of intellectual property. However, this screenshot from when the game was first listed clearly shows the trailer and other screenshots being used.

Via: Store.steampowered.com

When examining the images more closely, it is clear that this “developer” has in essence done a quick asset lift of the “Battle Tank Starter Kit.” While the overall quality already seems subpar, looking something from the late 90’s PlayStation One era, the main issue here is the blatant theft of trailers and other screenshots.

By beginning their campaign with an outright lie, there is no reason to believe anything this developer says in the future. Avoiding this “game” should be a top priority for anyone on Steam.

More to the point, it has been days now since this has popped up on Steam without a takedown. Supposedly the game is set to release on May 30th, tomorrow. With no original gameplay to speak of, is the developer bold enough to attempt to sell Battlefield 1942 with some minor graphical tweaks to fool some players? A new title screen might do the trick, as well as some generic music.

It truly is troubling that such trash is allowed onto the store by Valve. Last year we saw the company attempt to take a stand on certain material it considered as inappropriate, such as HuniePop, but after some backlash and talk of censorship, Valve all but reversed course and took a more hands-off approach. A “game” like Tank BATTLEGROUNDS should not be allowed to sell at all, and it appears that Valve missed the bare minimum of due diligence, which is not a good sign if they plan to go head-to-head with the Epic Games Store.

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Other examples can have far more serious consequences. Recently the developers of Clicker Heroes were delisted from the Apple store in China after a company cloned their game, trademarked the name in use, and then claimed to be the true owner.

Via: Youtube.com

The situation has since been rectified to a point, but still delisted in China.

What more should Valve and others do such theft? Intellectual property theftwill always be an issue, and there must be higher standards for platforms like Steam who provide a space for this to occur.

As of now, Tank BATTLEGROUNDS has had its release date change TBD. Hopefully, it is removed before it is able to sell anything.

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