The mobile beta for Stellaris: Galaxy Command has been taken offline, due to “misappropriated assets,” according to Gamesindustry.biz. It was first noticed by a Reddit user who noticed the assets’ remarkable similarity to Halo. This included vehicles from the much-beloved series and poorly done airbrushing of artwork. The timing couldn’t be worse, considering it happened on launch day.
Consequently, the team behind the Stellaris mobile game has committed to a full “content sweep” in order to find these assets. Therefore, it will probably be a while before the game goes back online.
Hong Kong developer Gamebear is working on the title, with Paradox publishing. Gamebear is the creator of the mobile strategy game Nova Empire. The game is noted as being heavily inspired by Stellaris. In other words, the studio is a great fit for the mobile version of Stellaris.
Stellaris Steals Halo Assets
The development team released a statement on Twitter discussing the matter at hand.
They said:
“We trust Gamebear to make things right for Galaxy Command and we will work closely with them to ensure this game meets the high standards our players deserve. We’re sorry this happened, and we will do better.”
On the one hand, it is good news that they are jumping on this issue right away. On the other hand, one does wonder how this happened in the first place. But, there is a sincerity to the post. A level of which we rarely see in the industry today. A corporate mouthpiece mouths off a few insincere words, not giving a damn. However, the studio is not a AAA studio, so this backlash hurts their image more than, say, EA.
For those of you not in the know, Stellaris is a 4X strategy game. Paradox Interactive is responsible for developing and publishing the game. Set around the idea space exploration, the player deals with diplomacy, alien encounters, and resource management, amongst other features.
Stellaris is out now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One. The mobile version will be back at a later date.
Are you playing Stellaris? Halo Fan? Let us know in the comments!
