Stealth-em-up “Gunpoint rip-off” Ronin announced

Ronin

Devolver Digital, publisher of indie hits such as Hotline Miami and Shadow Warrior, has announced that they will be publishing a turn-based action-steal platformer (that’s a mouthful) called Ronin, due for PC, Linux and Mac (via Steam) sometime in 2015.

The developer behind game, Tomasz Waclawek, claims that Ronin is a deliberate “Gunpoint ripoff” on Reddit. However, Gunpoint developer Tom Francis has disagreed - saying instead that it was more of an “an awesome grappling-hook ninja-assassin game” in an early Let’s Play video.

For those unfamiliar with Gunpoint, it’s essentially an indie stealth-based puzzle platformer set in the near-future. Playing as a freelance spy, it tasks players with infiltrating different buildings, avoiding guards and bypassing security with the aid of a number of high-tech gadgets. It was originally released back in 2013 and received high praise.

“It’s clearly not a Gunpoint ripoff, because the core mechanics are so different,” Francis wrote in his blog. “A lot of what it does copy is superficial, and that stuff doesn’t matter. But the jump is pretty central, and if that was directly taken from Gunpoint, I’m delighted. I wouldn’t want anyone to reuse Gunpoint’s artwork or music, but the ideas in it are absolutely there for the taking. Every non-standard thing about it, from the jumping controls to the saving system, I did because I wanted more games to be that way. If there’s actually a case where Gunpoint caused more games to work this way, that’s a huge thrill for me.”

Rather amusingly, Waclawek replied to Francis’ evaluation by saying: “This is most disappointing. I tried really hard to make a Gunpoint clone and he says its not like Gunpoint. I really don’t know what I’ve done wrong :(“

It’s refreshing to see smaller studios and developers supporting each other, rather than the fighting over copyright infringements and trying to put other studios at a disadvantage that we see amongst larger developers and publishers.

If you’re interested in Ronin, you can take its early build for a test drive over at the game’s official website, where a free download is available. Not sure what to expect? Take a gander at the trailer below:

 

Oliver Zimmerman

Oliver Zimmerman

Writer
South-African raised, Dublin-resident. Oli loves games in all their shapes and forms. He particularly loves RPGs. He's also a keen wordsmith, and can often be found not just playing games, but also discussing their rights and wrongs.
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