Nintendo has just issued a takedown notice to the creator of Mario Royale, a fan-made game that mixes the classic battle royale gameplay in the Super Mario Bros. game environment. The letter is presumed to contain charges of intellectual property infringement.
InferBro, the game developer, as if expecting this to happen, quickly made some changes to the game to avoid any further action from Nintendo.
The said game, which is now known as DMCA Royale, is still available for free on any browser. But instead of Mario as the main character, the game developer replaced it with a custom character, known as Infrigio.
Aside from the different character, the developer also made some changes to other game specifics such as enemies, power-ups, backgrounds, and environmental objects. Even the copyrighted Super Mario sound effects were also replaced.
The gameplay is still the same. Players will have to battle it out against 74 opponents to reach the end of the level. Most, if not all of the gameplay, in each level though is still highly similar to Super Mario Bros.
Thankfully, as of this writing, it is not sure whether Nintendo is satisfied enough with the changes made by the game developer to DMCA Royale.
But knowing how Nintendo protects its intellectual property and with the popularity that the game is gaining, it won’t be long before Nintendo takes further action. If that happens, it would be interesting to know whether the game developer could pull off some more changes or totally takedown his game.
In the meantime, DMCA Royale is still available to play online. It works with any browser and can even be played on iOS devices. If you’re feeling nostalgic and want to try battle royale ala Super Mario Bros, go play the game.
If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net.
