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Dev says "false DMCA" from Microsoft got their sandbox game removed from Steam over apparent Minecraft copyright, all because of a screenshot of birch trees (www.gamesradar.com)
submitted 9 months ago by to c/games@sh.itjust.works
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Unomelon, the developer of Minecraft-inspired sandbox game Allumeria, says a DMCA from Microsoft, evidently related to Minecraft, got the game removed from Steam.

"The Allumeria Steam page is currently down because Microsoft has filed a false DMCA claim on it," Unomelon said on Bluesky on Tuesday. "They sent an email earlier today claiming that this screenshot infringes on their copyright. I am taking a moment to figure out what my path is going forward, will update soon."

The screenshot in question (above) is a simple wide shot of a forest filled with birch trees, what look to be oak trees with green and autumnal leaves, and a few pumpkins and weeds checkering the grassy dirt. There are definitely some similarities to Minecraft; if you told me this was a screenshot of a Minecraft mod, I'd probably believe you, but that's true of many voxel-based games, including Hytale.

Direct link to the Bluesky post (Skylib)

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[–] 12 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Actually the developer has been pretty open that while Minecraft was their inspiration the game the reason they started working on Allumeria is because in their eyes Minecraft has almost fundamental design flaws that Mojang are unwilling to fix. And while Minecraft was part of their inspiration another part of inspiration was Terraria and to directly quote the developer:

You could say that I try and take the gameplay of Terraria and combine it with the 3d block based world of Minecraft

So I don't think the game counts as "More Minecraft" because the developer gameplay-wise is taking a lot more inspiration from Terraria than Minecraft.

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  • [–] 0 points 8 months ago (1 child)

    I'll believe it when I see it. Right now I see a minecraft clone.

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  • [–] 2 points 8 months ago

    Well you can go and see for yourself, the game is back on Steam and they have a demo. Don't judge it based on the first hour or two where you're collecting copper and iron (though you can probably just skip grinding materials if you just want see what the game is about). Judge it when you've found forest keys and tried the forest dungeon because that 100% feels like something Terraria would have.

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