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The creative director of indie hit Unpacking, Wren Brier, has called out Nintendo due to the prominence of copycat games on its Switch eShop.

Seventeen days ago, Brier shared a Bluesky post with a series of games titled Unpacking on the eShop, clearly inspired by Witch Beam's award-winning game and sharing the same trademarked name.

Specifically, Unpacking Universe Dreams from CGI Lab (and its DLC packs) was added to the store on 26th October, which invites players to "explore a whimsical world where each box holds new adventures" as they "unpack and arrange items in vibrant locations, each with its own unique atmosphere".

Earlier today, Brier posted on Bluesky once more, stating Nintendo has not responded to reports of these "egregious scams".

"It's been over two weeks and these are still on the eShop," wrote Brier. "Nintendo hasn't responded to any of our reports of these egregious scams which are using our trademarked game name and purposely tricking Nintendo customers into buying cheap fakes."

This isn't the first time the Unpacking developers have faced this type of scam. Back in 2022, another Unpacking imitator was removed from the iOS and Google Play store after topping their most-downloaded charts.

"If you've happened to catch an ad for a suspiciously similar-looking game to Unpacking on mobile recently, please know that this is not our game," the official Unpacking account explained at the time. "They sure seem to want to give the impression that it is, though!"

Eurogamer has contacted Nintendo for further comment.

Unpacking developer calls out Nintendo after reporting "cheap fakes" on its eShop

The creative director of indie hit Unpacking, Wren Brier, has called out Nintendo due to the prominence of copycat game…

www.eurogamer.net

 

[cireza]

Oh right, somebody save Unpacking from this awful scam !

Unpacking tricking you into buying a game pushing an homosexual agenda behind a rating of 3+ is perfectly fine though, totally not a scam.

 

[struggler_guts]

Oh I thought this was about that game like overcooked but you're movers

 

[Davevil]

 

[Sp3eD]

Unpacking is $20? That’s the scam. $10 max game. Still fun for an hour or two.

 

[JimboJones]

Oh right, somebody save Unpacking from this awful scam !

Unpacking tricking you into buying a game pushing an homosexual agenda behind a rating of 3+ is perfectly fine though, totally not a scam.

Lol, what. I'm not well versed in this game but how is it pushing a homosexual agenda, not having a go at you, just genuinely curious.

 

[Magic Carpet]

I enjoyed my playthrough of Unpacking, very chill game. Gampass.

 

[cireza]

Lol, what. I'm not well versed in this game but how is it pushing a homosexual agenda, not having a go at you, just genuinely curious.

It does exactly this. The main character is a girl, grows up, starts living with a guy. The game shows (without much subtlety) that the guy is an asshole so OF COURSE the girl becomes lesbian. Most logical course of action !

I find this dumb but whatever, the issue is not about a girl becoming homosexual because she couldn't easily store her things in her boyfriend's flat. It is about :
Rated E for Everyone. Age 3+.

The game was in Game Pass, I installed it for my kids to try it out. And after a while... question from my 6 years old girl :
Dad, where are the boy's things and why are another girl's things instead ?
My answer :
The boy was an absolute asshole darling, so the girl decided to love girls instead and became lesbian. Grow up to be a beautiful lesbian. Living with a man is bad. Dad is an asshole too.
Of course I didn't answer this and uninstalled the game instead.

I personally find unacceptable to push these kind of themes in Age 3+ games.

 

[LectureMaster]

Oh right, somebody save Unpacking from this awful scam !

Unpacking tricking you into buying a game pushing an homosexual agenda behind a rating of 3+ is perfectly fine though, totally not a scam.

I was enjoying the game and all of a sudden bunch of rainbow panties popped up and I had to sort and pack them.

 

[GHG]

Oh right, somebody save Unpacking from this awful scam !

Unpacking tricking you into buying a game pushing an homosexual agenda behind a rating of 3+ is perfectly fine though, totally not a scam.

Ah, so that's why the media loved it so much.

It all makes sense now.

 

[touchfuzzy]

Oh I thought this was about that game like overcooked but you're movers

That's Moving Out, which is a better game.

 

[Kacho]

It does exactly this. The main character is a girl, grows up, starts living with a guy. The game shows (without much subtlety) that the guy is an asshole so OF COURSE the girl becomes lesbian. Most logical course of action !

I find this dumb but whatever, the issue is not about a girl becoming homosexual because she couldn't easily store her things in her boyfriend's flat. It is about :
Rated E for Everyone. Age 3+.

The game was in Game Pass, I installed it for my kids to try it out. And after a while... question from my 6 years old girl :
Dad, where are the boy's things and why are another girl's things instead ?
My answer :
The boy was an absolute asshole darling, so the girl decided to love girls instead and became lesbian. Grow up to be a beautiful lesbian. Living with a man is bad. Dad is an asshole too.
Of course I didn't answer this and uninstalled the game instead.

I personally find unacceptable to push these kind of themes in Age 3+ games.

Thought you were joking at first. This is hilarious.

 

[GHG]

I was enjoying the game and all of a sudden bunch of rainbow panties popped up and I had to sort and pack them.

Gaming journalist life-sim mode activated.

 

[Three]

It does exactly this. The main character is a girl, grows up, starts living with a guy. The game shows (without much subtlety) that the guy is an asshole so OF COURSE the girl becomes lesbian. Most logical course of action !

I find this dumb but whatever, the issue is not about a girl becoming homosexual because she couldn't easily store her things in her boyfriend's flat. It is about :
Rated E for Everyone. Age 3+.

The game was in Game Pass, I installed it for my kids to try it out. And after a while... question from my 6 years old girl :
Dad, where are the boy's things and why are another girl's things instead ?
My answer :
The boy was an absolute asshole darling, so the girl decided to love girls instead and became lesbian. Grow up to be a beautiful lesbian. Living with a man is bad. Dad is an asshole too.
Of course I didn't answer this and uninstalled the game instead.

I personally find unacceptable to push these kind of themes in Age 3+ games.

While I agree that this rating for it is stupid it doesn't excuse the poor IP protection from Nintendo when it comes to others while being completely unreasonable when protecting their own. This is blatant infringement.

 

[Darkness_Arises]

It does exactly this. The main character is a girl, grows up, starts living with a guy. The game shows (without much subtlety) that the guy is an asshole so OF COURSE the girl becomes lesbian. Most logical course of action !

I find this dumb but whatever, the issue is not about a girl becoming homosexual because she couldn't easily store her things in her boyfriend's flat. It is about :
Rated E for Everyone. Age 3+.

The game was in Game Pass, I installed it for my kids to try it out. And after a while... question from my 6 years old girl :
Dad, where are the boy's things and why are another girl's things instead ?
My answer :
The boy was an absolute asshole darling, so the girl decided to love girls instead and became lesbian. Grow up to be a beautiful lesbian. Living with a man is bad. Dad is an asshole too.
Of course I didn't answer this and uninstalled the game instead.

I personally find unacceptable to push these kind of themes in Age 3+ games.

I would have never though that this game was pushing this kind of agenda. Why the heck is it rated E?

 

[AngelMuffin]

I would have never though that this game was pushing this kind of agenda. Why the heck is it rated E?

It’s rated DEI.

 

[ReBurn]

I would be surprised if anyone is actually buying the knockoffs.

 

[Raploz]

It does exactly this. The main character is a girl, grows up, starts living with a guy. The game shows (without much subtlety) that the guy is an asshole so OF COURSE the girl becomes lesbian. Most logical course of action !

I find this dumb but whatever, the issue is not about a girl becoming homosexual because she couldn't easily store her things in her boyfriend's flat. It is about :
Rated E for Everyone. Age 3+.

The game was in Game Pass, I installed it for my kids to try it out. And after a while... question from my 6 years old girl :
Dad, where are the boy's things and why are another girl's things instead ?
My answer :
The boy was an absolute asshole darling, so the girl decided to love girls instead and became lesbian. Grow up to be a beautiful lesbian. Living with a man is bad. Dad is an asshole too.
Of course I didn't answer this and uninstalled the game instead.

I personally find unacceptable to push these kind of themes in Age 3+ games.

Question: Would it be fine if the character had dumped her boyfriend for another boyfriend? What about having a lesbian character from the very outset of the game? Would it be inappropriate for kids?

Regarding the issue at hand, Nintendo really needs to step up their moderation. The e-Shop is full of asset flip slop everywhere.

 

[FoxMcChief]

Ah, so that's why the media loved it so much.

It all makes sense now.

Wokeflation

 

[kevboard]

I find this dumb but whatever, the issue is not about a girl becoming homosexual because she couldn't easily store her things in her boyfriend's flat. It is about :
Rated E for Everyone. Age 3+.

The game was in Game Pass, I installed it for my kids to try it out. And after a while... question from my 6 years old girl :
Dad, where are the boy's things and why are another girl's things instead ?

damn, you could just say you're homophobic and get on with it. fucking snowflake ass bitch

 

[jzbadblood]

damn, you could just say you're homophobic and get on with it. fucking snowflake ass bitch

He did say it with a nice sprinkle of schizophrenia on top

 

[Deft Beck]

This thread went off into an insane direction, but I agree that Nintendo really needs to clean up the eShop going into the Switch 2.

 

[Gorilla Shark]

I really wonder how many people even buy all of the knock off/shovel wear shit on the eShop?

Is it really worth it to these devs/publishers to go through the hassle to sell 20 copies of a $5 game? Or do people actually buy this shit?

 

[kevboard]

I really wonder how many people even buy all of the knock off/shovel wear shit on the eShop?

Is it really worth it to these devs/publishers to go through the hassle to sell 20 copies of a $5 game? Or do people actually buy this shit?

yeah,
on PS5 there's the cheap and quick platinum Trophy aspect to these, but on Switch, like, the only thing I can imagine is that they actually bet on people buying the wrong game on accident, and not asking for a refund

 

[GHG]

damn, you could just say you're homophobic and get on with it. fucking snowflake ass bitch

He did say it with a nice sprinkle of schizophrenia on top

 

[kevboard]

he did seem to be a bit triggerd yeah, making up some fantasy scenario even to justify his nonsensical viewpoint

 

[Dacvak]

I’ve been fighting with Walmart to remove knockoff merch of my company from their online store for 2 months, and every time I swat down one shitty dropship store, 2 more pop up.

It’s a never ending battle.

 

[Closer]

I would have never though that this game was pushing this kind of agenda. Why the heck is it rated E?

Because it's "Suitable for all ages. May contain minimal cartoon, fantasy, or mild violence, and/or infrequent use of mild language.".

 

[GHG]

he did seem to be a bit triggerd yeah, making up some fantasy scenario even to justify his nonsensical viewpoint

No, that was referencing your post, and you're still at it.

 

[Dacvak]

It does exactly this. The main character is a girl, grows up, starts living with a guy. The game shows (without much subtlety) that the guy is an asshole so OF COURSE the girl becomes lesbian. Most logical course of action !

I find this dumb but whatever, the issue is not about a girl becoming homosexual because she couldn't easily store her things in her boyfriend's flat. It is about :
Rated E for Everyone. Age 3+.

The game was in Game Pass, I installed it for my kids to try it out. And after a while... question from my 6 years old girl :
Dad, where are the boy's things and why are another girl's things instead ?
My answer :
The boy was an absolute asshole darling, so the girl decided to love girls instead and became lesbian. Grow up to be a beautiful lesbian. Living with a man is bad. Dad is an asshole too.
Of course I didn't answer this and uninstalled the game instead.

I personally find unacceptable to push these kind of themes in Age 3+ games.

????????

Did they start scissoring on the bed while unpacking or something? What the heck am I missing here? You just uninstalled the game instead of telling your kid that gay/bi people exist…?

Genuinely confused. I didn’t make it this far in the game. What did they end up doing in the game that was offensive or whatever? I’m curious, but I also don’t care for the game so I probably won’t play it again.

 

[Skifi28]

This thread went off into an insane direction, but I agree that Nintendo really needs to clean up the eShop going into the Switch 2.

What do you mean this thread...?

 

[March Climber]

Oh right, somebody save Unpacking from this awful scam !

Unpacking tricking you into buying a game pushing an homosexual agenda behind a rating of 3+ is perfectly fine though, totally not a scam.

Just to be clear here in the pointed message I'm reading here, you're implying that you're fine with potential scam asset flips on the Nintendo shop because....

... it upsets a developer?

No, that was referencing your post, and you're still at it.

It's a two-way trigger.

 

[Kacho]

 

[cireza]

damn, you could just say you're homophobic and get on with it. fucking snowflake ass bitch

Awesome job at totally missing the point.

Nowhere did I say that I have an issue with the topic. The issue is that this is a game rated 3+.

You just uninstalled the game instead of telling your kid that gay/bi people exist…?

Do I really need to explain how I want, as a father, be in control of how and when themes such as this are presented to my 6 year old daughter ?

 

[Ancient Gamer]

Regardless of game content, I find it a little ironic considering the lengths Nintendo go to protect their own IP and Copyrights.

 

[Dacvak]

Do I really need to explain how I want, as a father, be in control of how and when themes such as this are presented to my 6 year old daughter ?

No, that’s a fair answer and a perspective I didn’t consider. Carry on.

 

[GHG]

It's a two-way trigger.

Sorry, looks pretty one way from where I'm sitting.

cireza even managed to be civil with them in his responses, even in the face of them behaving like unhinged attack dogs.

 

[graywolf323]

????????

Did they start scissoring on the bed while unpacking or something? What the heck am I missing here? You just uninstalled the game instead of telling your kid that gay/bi people exist…?

Genuinely confused. I didn’t make it this far in the game. What did they end up doing in the game that was offensive or whatever? I’m curious, but I also don’t care for the game so I probably won’t play it again.

yeah I’m a bit confused as well, I mean I haven’t played it so maybe I’m missing something

why do you assume she didn’t just move in with a female friend? I know a guy who went through a divorce and moved in with a bunch of guys and it’s not like he went gay

edit: ah okay, Kacho & GHG explained it, it definitely wasn’t subtle

 

[Kacho]

yeah I’m a bit confused as well, I mean I haven’t played it so maybe I’m missing something

why do you assume she didn’t just move in with a female friend? I know a guy who went through a divorce and moved in with a bunch of guys and it’s not like he went gay

“Unpacking,” though it is a silly little game, details the minutiae of queer experience. As we unpack the character’s room, it’s slowly revealed through mundane objects like rainbow socks and extra tampons that she is far more complex than we initially thought.

 

[GHG]

yeah I’m a bit confused as well, I mean I haven’t played it so maybe I’m missing something

why do you assume she didn’t just move in with a female friend? I know a guy who went through a divorce and moved in with a bunch of guys and it’s not like he went gay

The wiki makes it out as if it's pretty on the nose:

Sadie is revealed to be bisexual after dating both a male and female partner in the game

Sadie (Unpacking)

Sadie is a bisexual character from Unpacking. This section is in need of major improvement. Please help improve this article by editing it. This section is in need of major improvement. Please help improve this article by editing it. This section is in need of major improvement. Please help...

lgbtqia-characters.fandom.com

Also...:

 

[Darkness_Arises]

Awesome job at totally missing the point.

Nowhere did I say that I have an issue with the topic. The issue is that this is a game rated 3+.


Do I really need to explain how I want, as a father, be in control of how and when themes such as this are presented to my 6 year old daughter ?

I prefer such games to have an LGBTQ tag. I do not want this social contagion anywhere near children (especially anyone less than 11-12 years old).

Check on common sense media for such content in books/movies/games, before you download/buy. For example, on common sense media, for unpacking under diverse representations it says "Unpacking provides important positive LGBTQ+ representation. The main character is queer and enjoys a happy ending with her partner and newborn baby. Additionally, the presence of a Menorah indicates the main character is Jewish, an underrepresented ethno-religious group in games, and a Hamsa wall hanging also appears later in the game, which could belong to the main character's partner, and is generally representative of Middle Eastern heritage."

 

[cireza]

Check on common sense media

That's great, I didn't know about this site.
Edit : it seems you have to buy a subscription though.

 

[lughnasadh123]

Next on Scooped Nintendo's Seal of Quantity...

Also trying to figure out how a child is going to be harmed in anyway being exposed to relationship issues when they're going all around them especially at home. Or how being Bisexual/Lesbian is doubly so. Something being passed around in the Eggnog this year?

 

[Thief1987]

You just uninstalled the game instead of telling your kid that gay/bi people exist…?

For their sake I hope you don't have kids?

 

[mysticboy]

Wouldn't it make sense to go after the ones actually copying your game?

 

[JawaSaysUtinni]

Ah yes the homosexual agenda… my gay friends just can’t stop passing me their manifesto every time I see them. And to children as well! Trying to make them convert.

 

[Dacvak]

yeah I’m a bit confused as well, I mean I haven’t played it so maybe I’m missing something

why do you assume she didn’t just move in with a female friend? I know a guy who went through a divorce and moved in with a bunch of guys and it’s not like he went gay

One thing I didn’t really think about when he answered is how he wants to raise his daughter, and when he wants to introduce her to those kinds of ideas.

I’m not in a position to tell anyone how they should raise their kids, full stop.

I personally hope, when he feels it’s appropriate to discuss, he teaches a message of knowledge and acceptance, but that’s way beyond the scope of this conversation, and frankly inappropriate for me to really comment on (even as I did just now). It has nothing to do with gaming, anyway.

I’m also trying to avoid saying cunty things like this:

For their sake I hope you don't have kids?

That’s rude, my man.

 

[March Climber]

Sorry, looks pretty one way from where I'm sitting.

cireza even managed to be civil with them in his responses, even in the face of them behaving like unhinged attack dogs.

...He instantly derailed the thread and went on a long rant about LGBT representation in a video game.

I understand if he is your friend or colleague, but it's okay to admit that this game's mention triggered his response, and that triggered kevboard 's response in return.

 

[bender]

Wouldn't it make sense to go after the ones actually copying your game?

Most likely no and certainly not without significant legal expense. Witch Bane is Australian company and CGI Games is out of Muldova.

 

[GHG]

I prefer such games to have an LGBTQ tag. I do not want this social contagion anywhere near children (especially anyone less than 11-12 years old).

Check on common sense media for such content in books/movies/games, before you download/buy. For example, on common sense media, for unpacking under diverse representations it says "Unpacking provides important positive LGBTQ+ representation. The main character is queer and enjoys a happy ending with her partner and newborn baby. Additionally, the presence of a Menorah indicates the main character is Jewish, an underrepresented ethno-religious group in games, and a Hamsa wall hanging also appears later in the game, which could belong to the main character's partner, and is generally representative of Middle Eastern heritage."

Interestingly enough, this game also seemed to sneak past the censorship boards here in the middle east.

Whatever they did, they did a very good job of fooling all the relevant agencies as to the true nature of the games content.

...He instantly derailed the thread and went on a long rant about LGBT representation in a video game.

I understand if he is your friend or colleague, but it's okay to admit that this game's mention triggered his response, and that triggered kevboard 's response in return.

What he said is very much relevant to the game. It's not a game that comes up much in discussions here so it's as good a place as any for him to vent if he needed to.