Myth of Empires [RELISTED]

	Digital Release	November 18, 2021 – Steam March 01, 2022 – PC
	Delisting	December 03, 2021 – Steam February 21, 2024 – PC
	Relisting	February 21, 2024 – Steam
	Developer	Angela Game
	Publisher	Angela Game Antiidelay (Steam, 2019-2023) Imperium Interactive (PC, 2022-2024) Imperium Interactive (Steam, 2023-Current)
	Available On	Steam
	Links	Myth of Empires homepage SteamDB page

Delisting

Myth of Empires was delisted on Steam on December 3rd, 2021 after a DMCA takedown request was filed. Although the party who filed the request was initially unconfirmed, documents later made public have revealed that Snail Games and Studio Wildcard, developer and publisher of Ark: Survival Evolved, were behind the claims. The initial takedown request outlines the concerns of Studio Wildcard:

In 2020, at least one employee of SWC’s parent corporation (Snail Games China) who previously had access to the source code for Ark: Survival Evolved left to form Angela Game which, as oted above, is the developer of Myth of Empires. Accordingly, when Myth of Empires was released on November 18, 2021, SWC became understandably concerned because of large-scale similarities between Ark: Survival Evolved and Myth of Empires. This similarity extended to features that could not be explained through independent development, such as the use of identical gameplay mechanics not found in other games. 

To investigate, SWC compared code “headers” found in the executable file for Myth of Empires to the code used in Ark: Survival Evolved. A preliminary analysis is attached as Exhibit A. SWC’s analysis confirms that its concerns are well-founded: Myth of Empires was built using source code copied and stolen from SWC. The analysis reveals hundreds of matching “class,” “variable,” and “function” names. 

Given the nature and extent of the copying, this cannot be a coincidence. For example, both games use hundreds of arbitrary yet identical, or minimally renamed, variable names such as “bOnlyUseExpireTimeMultipliersIfActivated” and “SpawnInventoryOnDestructionLifeSpan.” It is simply unbelievable that so many unnecessary similarities in variable, class, and function names can be explained by “random chance.” This is a textbook case of copyright infringement and trade secret misappropriation. 

Notice of Claimed Infringement – December 01, 2021

Days later, on December 7th, Angel Game posted their initial response to the game’s homepage and on Steam.

A few days ago, Steam received allegations of suspected copyright infringement concerning Myth of Empires, and in accordance with the DMCA and to exempt itself from liability, has temporarily removed Myth of Empires from its store. Our development team solemnly declares: Angela Game fully owns all rights and property associated with Myth of Empires and will actively respond to any doubts or allegations on this point. We are in active contact with Steam and are doing our best to restore the game to their store. We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused players.

At the same time, we will continue to improve the overall optimization of Myth of Empires as well as maintain normal operations and development work. We are currently preparing a large number of content updates that cannot be brought online due to the current special circumstances, but players that have purchased Myth of Empires can rest assured that we are confident we will bring you a better gaming experience. Thank you for your support and understanding.

Angela Game and The Myth of Empires Team – December 07, 2021

They next posted on January 7th, 2022, reiterating much of the same information and this time including a link to the court document filed against them by Snail Games and Studio Wildcard. They mention seeking a preliminary injunction which was scheduled for a hearing on January 31st, 2022. After this hearing the court requested both parties to agree on an independent expert who could review both of their source code to identify any similarities.

A series of appeals and extensions drew this process out through much of 2022 with the independent code review by Robert Zeidman finalized on September 29th. In the report Ziedman concluded that “Angela copied substantial portions of SWC’s copyrighted source code and tried to conceal its copying”. On November 9th the court laid out the dates for discovery and pretrial conferences leading up to a jury trial that is currently scheduled for January 9th, 2024.

As Angela was filing their injunction in January of 2022 work continued on the game with a number of updates and the addition of new servers to support an independent PC release that launched on March 1st, 2022. The game’s homepage and Steam Store news feed had regularly been updated with posts about new content, patches, and events. The game remained playable on Steam for those who previously purchased it while new players could buy the International Edition from the game’s homepage.

The trial scheduled for January 9th, 2024 would not take place as Snail Games, Studio Wildcard, and Angela Game would announce a settlement on October 11th, 2023. Angela Game apologized for “caus[ing] difficulties for Snail’s business” and agreed to a deal wherein “Snail Games will partner on the global launch of MoE on both PlayStation and Microsoft platforms in early 2024 and will assist in public relations, marketing, and first party support for the game”. Snail Games would withdraw their DMCA Notice against Angela Game allowing Myth of Empires to return to Steam resulting in the closure of the International Edition.

With the International Edition players were able to migrate their existing characters from the Steam version in a one-time, one-direction migration. Angela Game later offered the same process but in reverse — migrating from the International Edition back to Steam beginning on February 1st, 2024 and ending on March 5th, 2024. With the February 21st release of Myth of Empires on Steam the Internal Edition was retired.

About the Game

Explore the Eastern Continent
Streams flow gently down the valley; mountains rise proudly from the ground. Clouds come down, and drizzle descends; twilight merges, and a long night begins. Unruly soldiers shall be ruined; haughty hunters could be hunted. The state of the battle is unpredictable like the weather, and no one can prevail forever. All of these happen in the 64 kilometers’ simulation world; come to explore before it’s too late!

Create Everything from Scratch
Craft your armors to wear, sow your seeds to reap, tame your horses to ride, and summon your followers to fight. This sandbox adventure empowers you with total freedom to bring your creativity and imagination into full play.

Start your Epic Journey
Interested in bitter hand-to-hand combat?  More than one hundred weapons are at your command. Choose your favorite and fight your way out!Facing a city that refuses to surrender? A variety of ingenious siege weapons are waiting for your order. Put out the best formation and smash their doors open.Harassed by an enemy from farther away? Show your deep understanding of logistics, and an army marching on its stomach is sure to beat the hungry.Be you a charging warrior, a resourceful commander, or a charismatic leader; this true-to-life ancient battlefield is yours.

Travel on horseback, become a master rider
Find and tame quality horses in the wild, and breed outstanding pedigrees to fill up your stables. Create a lineup of horses that will make you invincible on the battlefield.

Write your Own Legend
You have 16 stairs climb to nobility, 25 developing directions to proceed, hundreds of achievements to claim, and arts of war to grasp. Do you want to be a bloodthirsty warlord – slaughter enemies and annex their field, expand your territories and take the crown？Or a peaceful master – plant seeds and harvest your pleasure, create buildings and embrace the wonder？Whatever you want to be, Myth of Empires has everything prepared for you.