Home

 › 

Articles

 › 

Alien Board Game Publisher Accused of Plagiarism

Alien Board Game Publisher Accused of Plagiarism

French board game publisher Wonder Dice is in hot water with the board gaming community, over the situation surrounding its upcoming Alien: USCSS Nostromo game. The game in question bears resemblance in both setting and rules to an idea pitched to the company years earlier by game designer François Bachelart.

Bachelart’s game allegedly nearly came to be released by Wonder Dice, but ultimately a partnership never came to fruition. Years later, Alien: UCSS Nostromo has appeared with a list of similarities, but no credit provided to Bachelart. Wonder Dice claims the game is wholly original, but did offer Bachelart a credit after the fact and an opportunity to work on a new game. Bachelart released a statement rejecting both, asking instead for Wonder Dice to stop selling the game.

Things have grown messy since. After the statement from Bachelart, Wonder Dice seems to have taken down both the Facebook page and website for the Alien: UCSS Nostromo game. In addition, a press release issued from Wonder Dice is threatening legal action against “anyone who has questioned their practices,” seemingly implying the fans in the board game community who participated in investigating the similarities between the two games are now potential targets for lawsuits.

Source: Kotaku

To top