IGF Award-winning Baba Is You cloned before it was even released

Earlier today indie game dev Arvi "Hempuli" Teikari took to Twitter to warn people that there was a fake clone of his IGF Award-winning puzzle game, Baba is You, available for download on Apple's App Store.

It's the latest example of the game industry's long-running problem with cloning, the process whereby someone quickly puts a copycat version of a popular game (like Threes or Ridiculous Fishing) into the market and claims it as their own work.

What's especially striking here is that Baba is You isn't even out yet; while there's an early prototype version available on itch.io, the full game is slated to ship later this year.

Nevertheless, someone operating under the App Store vendor name Julien Person published something that looks like Baba Is You on the App Store, created a website for it, and even registered the Twitter account @BabaIsYou.

That Twitter account has since been suspended, but Gamesindustry.biz reports that before it was taken down the person running it denied they'd ripped off the game.

"We did not steal anything, we created the game completely and deposited the rights," they reportedly wrote in response to a complaint from another dev. "We want to work with Hempuli, he does not want to. What should I do?"

For more insight into what makes Baba Is You so special, check out our interview with Teikari ahead of this year's IGF Awards, where Baba Is You was honored with awards for Excellence in Design and Best Student Game.