It seems no one is happy with the Android Marketplace, especially people wanting to play the hot iPhone game, Cut The Rope!
Take a look at the above screen shot. Companies like Appvision, AndroidPublisher, TUQSoft, Invision Labs, OMFG Apps and HTT are all selling what looks like the real Cut the Rope game for Android. These are scams which take advantage of people wanting to play the real game. Over the past few weeks, many Android customers have been falsely lead into purchasing these fakes:
| Appvision | 5,000 est. downloads |
| AndroidPublisher | 500 est. downlaods |
| TUQSoft | 50,000 est. downloads |
| Invision Labs | 5,000 est. downloads |
| HTT | 1,000 est. downloads |
| OMFG Apps | 10,000 est. downloads |
TUQSoft was the most blatant. If you read in the App’s description, it proudly states, “CUT THE ROPE NOW ON ANDROID”. The company only recently added the fact that this is NOT the game but a Live Wallpaper. Of course,that was after its App hit the 50,000 download range. Appvision on the other hand is a blatant fake! Worse yet, because of the new tighter return window implemented by Google, many purchasers can not even get their money back!
I contacted Semyon Voinov at ZeptoLab, the REAL developer of Cut The Rope. He said
We are now working on the Android version of “Cut the Rope”, but it will still take some time before it will be released.
We knew that there are several fake “Cut the Rope” apps on the Android market, but I wasn’t expecting to see so many of them. We will do our best to eliminate them from the market asap.
This official video from Chillingo (the only distributor of the game) shows how cute this game is.
I am very surprised that the major Android sites like Android Central, Android and Me and Droid Life have not warned their readers about these companies. But, I am even more surprised that Google is allowing these blatant scams to exist in the Android Marketplace.
at 99 cents times 50,000.
let’s say 80% get a refund, you are still at $10,000
what is android cut? let’s say 40 percent
you could still be at $6000
with those conservative numbers you could still walk away with some big pocket change
It’s a blatant rip-off! Worse yet, it is destroying the positive buzz around a really good game. How many people who have been burned by these scammers will buy the real game when it is available? And, 1-star ratings will scare everyone else away.
Google should be policing these things instead of letting any App in just to increase their catalog.
Yeah we actually put out a warning about this about a week and a half ago. Glad to see someone else trying to spread the word, especially with the new 15 min refund time.
For Reference: http://www.droidgamers.com/index.php/game-news/android-game-news/1023-psa-cut-the-rope-by-appvision-is-not-the-real-cut-the-rope-game-for-android
Not meant as a plug for our site or anything, just so people know at least a few of us are watching their backs.
Great site! Just added it to my Watch List for Android.
Android market sucks compared to Apple. Talk all you want about open source being cool but in this case, consumers lose because no one is policing it like the closed ecosystem of Apples’ App Store. And developers don’t want to waste their time on a piracy laden, fragmented market, so the App catalog suffers.
Google needs to do something about the Android Market. With all of the ports from old 8-bit, 16-bit ROMs making their way into the Market, it is obvious that no one is policing it. Considering the first Android virus is loose in China, I would not be surprised if some of these Apps have a little extra payload buried deep inside.