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Beware of These Scam Game Publishers
Main Post:
So I know this post may potentially be seen as self advertising, but hear me out.
I am a YouTube content creator who focuses predominantly on Nintendo Switch as a platform and reviewing smaller lesser known indie games, however a large portion of my time has been dedicated to combatting scam game publishers on the platform.
If you're not aware of these, you will no doubt have encountered their games on Steam or and of the Console platforms and they go by many names including Midnight Works, DEZVOLT APP & IDEI SRL, GBT UI SOLUTIONS S.R.L, Success Games, Testagamercreations and many more.
And if you've attempted to get your game noticed on any of the e-shops, you will no doubt have found it lost amongst a torrent of low effort, low quality shovelware titles, which I have termed "Scam Games" due to many of them having fake trailers, screenshots and descriptions.
Back to the point though, I have put out a lot of content on my channel in attempt to highlight these companies to not only consumers, but also the big three themselves - Unfortunately despite the harm these companies are doing not to consumers, but also publishers and developers alike, given my small status much of this has fallen by the wayside.
I recently published a video titled The Scam Game Web of Deceit in which I detailed exactly who these companies were, who they were headed by and how they were all connected.
In that video, I also highlighted the fact that these publishers are now stealing other publishers names and publishing games as them, presumably in attempt to hide their tracks, and I've contacted all of the named publishers and made them aware of the situation, with several of them seeking legal action.
In a recent development I was made aware that one of the scam game publishers had stolen the works of another indie dev, with the title "The Backrooms 1998" by solo indie developer SteelKrill ripped directly from Steam and repackaged as "Backrooms Horror Escape" on multiple platforms by COOL DEVS SRL.
This developer is linked to DEMENCI GAMES with the owner of both "Publishing names" being Dumitru Chetrusca
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dumitru-chetrusca-807269173/
Coincidentally, Dumitru also has ties to Burlea Games Studie and Eclipse Interactive, with Chetrusca Softworks being another publishing name they go by, which was recently banned from PlayStation.
SteelKrill made a post previously about their game being stolen in which they speculated about who COOL DEVS were, providing evidence in the form of screenshot comparisons to which many questioned whether the assets were store bought and whether COOL DEVS had just re-constructed the game themselves.
https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1ix993g/a_big_scam_company_just_stole_my_whole_game_from/
After looking into it myself, doing side by side video comparisons and getting a dataminer to extract the game files from the Nintendo Switch version of Backrooms Horror Escape, we discovered that all of the assets were the same including countless hand drawn images by SteelKrill, and his personal home video files used in the game, who's scripting had been removed to stop them playing.
My video on the research is linked here - https://youtu.be/_wFLN2q7OpA
Here is a link to an image I produced showing how they are all connected - Web of Deceit Full Diagram - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FigqLTFcd0yt7rE2sAGMntauXLQ-K6Lw/view?usp=drive_link
Like I said, I am a small channel with very little reach and despite me publishing content on these scumbags and highlighting their despicable actions, none of the bigger outlets appear to be concerned with the damage they are doing.
If you care to share any of the videos or this post, I would appreciate it.
Hopefully the information I have provided will raise your awareness that this is going on and if you are approached by any of the publishers in the video DO NOT accept their offers, no matter how good it might seem.
If any of you suspect that your game may have been stolen by them, you can reach out to me via email or via my Discord channel and I will do my best to look into it.
Here's a full list of the publishers you should be avoiding and I'll try to keep it up to date.
SWITCH
Midnight Works - OG Scammers (defunct)
Erlano (Midnight Works) – Midnight Works Renamed
INSTAMARKETINGANDGAME - Subsidiar of Midnight Works (defunct)
PublishMe (Midnight Works) – INSTAMARKETINGANDGAME Renamed
VG Games - Work from same office as Midnight Works
West Connection - VG Games U.S name (defunct)
Testagamercreations – VG Games/West Connection Renamed
GameToTop Corp - Midnight Works Pseudonym (defunct)
GAMETOTOP.CC - GameToTop Corp renamed
DEZVOLT GAMES - Midnight Works Pseudonym
Success Games - Offshoot of VG Games
VRCFORGE STUDIOS - Midnight Works Pseudonym
GOGAME CONSOLE PUBLISHER - Midnight Works Pseudonym
Great Escape Games Publishing - Midnight Works Pseudonym
DEMENCI Games - Midnight Works competitor
COOL DEVS - Established by Demenci Games CEO - Chetrusca Softworks Playstation
BURLEAGamesStudio - Chetrusca Softworks Playstation
Eclipse Interactive - Chetrusca Softworks Playstation
lurie - Chetrusca Softworks Playstation
Tashlik - Published on PS as Tetyana Vysochanska and Maksym Vysochanskyy trading as IndieGames3000
SimulaMaker - Owned by Maksym Vysochanskiy
16BIT - Stolen Publishing Name (16 Bit Nights SRL) - Games pubilished by GameToTop Corporation on PS
VRKIWI Games - Stolen Publishing Name (VRKIWI) - Confirmed
MultiversalME - Stolen Publishing Name (MultiversalMe) - Unconfirmed
Yellow Ink - Suspected but No established Links
Globalgamestudio - Suspected but No established Links
XenoXeno - Publishes as IORDER SRL (Playstation) - Suspected Links
Megame - No established Links
CGI LAB - No established Links
PLAYSTATION
Midnight Works - Banned from PS
Play Games - Midnight Works
404 Games - Midnight Works
SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGIES SRL (2025) - Midnight Works
GBT UI SOLUTIONS S.R.L. - Midnight Works
TESTAGAMERCREATIONS LTD - Midnight Works
MIDNIGHT GAMES S.R.L - Midnight Works
DEZVOLT APP & IDEI SRL - Midnight Works
GOOSE GAME LTD - Stolen Publishing Name
Grizzly Games Limited - Stolen Publishing Name
ESAIL LTD - Stolen Publishing Name
Chetrusca Softworks - Established by Demenci Games CEO (Now Banned from PS)
Maksym Vysochanskyy trading as IndieGames3000 - Maksym Vysochanskiy (SimulaMaker Founder)
Tetyana Vysochanska - Tanya Vysochanska (Worked with Maksym Vysochanskiy)
Violarte (aka VIOLARTE SP. Z OO) - Publisher established by Tanya Vysochanska
IORDER SRL - Publishes as XenoXeno (Switch) - Suspected Links
NOSTRA GAMES LTD - No established Links
GOOSE GAME LTD - Stolen Publishing Name (GOOSE GAME) - Unconfirmed
Grizzly Games Limited - Stolen Publishing Name (Grizzly Games) - Confirmed
ESAIL - Stolen Publishing Name (eSail LTD) - Confirmed (Removed from PS)
ADVENTURE GAMES S.R.L - COOL DEVS/DEMENCI Games (Chetrusca)
Regards,
Luke.
Top Comment: It's truly frustrating that these platforms either turn a blind eye or are, in a way, complicit with scam developers. This is illegal, and it needs to stop. End of story.
With DRAGAMI GAMES, LTD acquiring the license you think there where be future games?
Main Post:
Since they got the rights to the game again you think that a sequel will be greenlit along with any future games with the franchise?
Top Comment: I don’t see them making a profitable sequel, but good luck if they decide to make one
Who made this game? Lion games Co LTD
Main Post:
Ive been researching this company for the past few weeks but i can't find anything about it. This game has been in development for over 6 years. Where did they get the money? The assets in this game must be worth millions of usd , yet there is no information about the game devs ANYWHERE, public or private. Its something that has been bugging me. Is this company a joint work between south Korea and Japanese companys w funding from china?
Top Comment: Are you just interested in the origins of Liongames and not their full history? I can give a pretty long explanation of all of the (development and financial) turmoil that Liongames has faced from the beginning to present-day as the Korean community has done a good job at keeping track of what's happened over the years.
My End Game - Campfire Andromeda Ltd.
Main Post: My End Game - Campfire Andromeda Ltd.
Top Comment:
After over a good month with Shure SE846 (upgraded from 5 years with SE535) I ended up selling it because something is missing on the treble side (to my ear at least). Tried out the Andromeda and man does she sing with harmonic quality. Not saying that Andromeda is better than SE846, They are just two different IEMs and I glad I ended up with Andromeda.
NINTENDO - Notification of the Acquisition of SRD Co., Ltd.
Main Post: NINTENDO - Notification of the Acquisition of SRD Co., Ltd.
Top Comment: SRD is a development company which has been closely involved for nearly four decades in developing Nintendo video game software. Completion of the Acquisition (exclusive of treasury stock) will serve to strengthen the management base of SRD and secure the availability of software development resources for Nintendo, in addition to facilitating an anticipated improvement in software development efficiency. A list of titles they co-developed here: https://nintendo.fandom.com/wiki/SRD The company headcount is 139 employee at April '21. Their HQ was inside Nintendo HQ in Kyoto even if they weren't owned by Nintendo.
Retro Games Ltd teased a new ZX Spectrum emulator console
Main Post:
- IN THE BOX: The Spectrum Home Computer, USB-C Power Supply Cable (1.8m - 6ft) (AC Adapter NOT included), HDMI Cable (1.8m - 6ft).
- Emulates 48 and 128 models of the ZX Spectrum.
- Fully working replica keyboard.
- 48 games built-in, including; Manic Miner, The Hobbit, and Head Over Heels.
- Multi region 720 HD output via HDMI, with PAL (50Hz) and NTSC (60Hz) compatibility. Play in original 4:3 or pixel perfect aspect ratios, with or without CRT filters and configurable border size.
- Choose from 12 attractive frames to surround gameplay.
- Save games at any point in one of 4 slots per game and rewind gameplay by up to 40 seconds.
- Play games you own via a USB flash drive with multiple file-type compatibility (TAP/TZX/PZX/SZX/Z80/SNA).
- Four USB-A Ports to add additional controllers for multiplayer games, and for USB flash drive.
Facebook tease post:
More info and specs:
https://www.smythstoys.com/uk/en-gb/gaming-and-tech/retro-gaming/the-spectrum/p/243333
Top Comment: Here’s the game list: Alien Girl (Skirmish Edition), Ant Attack, Army Moves, Auf Wiedersehen Monty, Avalon, Bobby Bearing, Cosmic Payback, Devwill Too ZX, Exolon, Fairlight, Firelord, Football Manager 2, Freddy Hardest, The Great Escape, Head Over Heels, Highway Encounter, The Hobbit, Horace Goes Skiing, Jack the Nipper, Knot in 3D, Lords of Midnight, Manic Miner, Match Day II, Movie, Nodes of Yesod, Penetrator, Phantis (Game Over II), Pheenix, Pyracurse, Quazatron, Robin of the Wood, Saboteur! Remastered, Shovel Adventure, Skool Daze, Snake Escape, Spellbound, Starquake, Starstrike II, El Stompo, Stonkers, Target: Renegade, TCQ, Technician Ted – The Megamix, Tenebra, Trashman, The Way of the Exploding Fist, Wheelie, Where Time Stood Still.
Korppi Games Ltd (u/korppigames) - Reddit
Main Post: Korppi Games Ltd (u/korppigames) - Reddit
Rare Ltd.
Main Post: Rare Ltd.