- A new mobile game bearing a striking resemblance to CS:GO is now available in Thailand through the Google Play Store
- The game titled “Global Offensive Mobile” emulates everything from the art, environment, and physics of the Counter-Strike franchise
- Valve has not responded officially about the issue and whether they consider the game a rip-off
A new game for Android devices named Global Offensive Mobile has raised a few brows because of its outright similarities to Valve's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
Global Offensive Mobile: Inspired or Stolen?
Video games in Asia have often found a way to replicate some of their most successful counterparts to the West. Mobile Legends: Bang Bang is a replica of League of Legends, for example, but nothing screams copyright infringement the same way Global Offensive Mobile, a mobile game available to Android devices in Thailand.
The game bears a strong resemblance to Valve's acclaimed first-person shooter (FPS), Counter-Strike, and it is now coming out of a “Closed Beta Test,” which originally ended on February 18.
Calling the game a clone of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) would not be too wide of the mark. The game, though, exists in its own vacuum with no official links or even mentions of transporting Valve's FPS hit to a mobile platform.
You may argue that this is just a botched ripped-off, but a closer look reveals that whoever created Global Offensive Mobile has spared no development effort, creating the game on the Unity Engine and making sure that it will feel and play as a real mobile shooter.
Global Offensive Mobile does, which should appease even the most conscientious of objectors a little. But does Valve consider the game a copy? This is a good question and the right one to ask.
So far, Valve has offered no official comment and calling Global Offensive Mobile a copy is really a matter of community discussion. Still, not a confirmed position by the original IP holder, i.e., Valve.
If anything, though, it's a great idea for Valve to branch out into another segment, bringing mobile gaming for one of the best shooters out there. The company has not shown any ambition to explore the highly popular mobile gaming vertical, but this could be the jolt it needs to hit the ground running.
What's So Similar about CS:GO and Global Offensive Mobile?
From what can be garnered from the official images available on the Google Play Store, where Global Offensive Mobile can be downloaded from right now, the game betrays the exact same art style as CS: GO.
If art is debatable, then the fact that the game uses the same name as CS:GO is another red flag that even the most well-meaning observer would bring up and question the validity of. Evidently, the title is what makes the game stand apart at first.
But then, you get a whole lot of maps that are a nearly identical replica of popular CS: GO maps, such as Dust 2, Mirage, and Inferno. The weaponry and arsenal you can purchase, it seems, is nearly unchanged to the weapons you can buy in CS:GO, but more tellingly, you have the entire physics of the game, including recoil patterns, bullet trajectories, and animations identically ported into Global Offensive.
The voice lines are derived from CS: GO as well, with the all-time favorite “Go, go, go!” rightly baked into Global Offensive Mobile. The differences are few and in between, and the mobile game continues to be shrouded in mystery.
For Valve to make a legal move, they would need to wait and see if Global Offensive Mobile will gain traction and whether whoever sits behind its development would try to make money off of it.
When Riot Games sued Moonton Technology, the company won only $2.9 million for copyright infringement of League of Legends by the latter's Mobile Legends. Mobile Legends, though, has distinct gameplay and characters of its own. Global Offensive cuts much closer to home.
On the plus side, Valve can use this development as a litmus test if there would be any reception for a potential mobile CS: GO project in the future.
