Fan-made Mario Royale is now Infringio Royale after apparent cease and desist
Red shell.
A fan-made Mario Royale game was swiftly turned into Infringio Royale after its creator received an apparent cease and desist from Nintendo.
Mario Royale caught attention this week after it became available to play in a browser. It is a recreation of the original Super Mario Bros. game, except you're playing alongside 75 other players.
You interact with the other Marios through the game, so to speak. So while you cannot collide with them directly, you can use a shell to kill them or break a block someone is standing on. If you make it to the end of the castle as one of the first three players, you win. If not, you lost.
In an interview with Vice, creator InfernoPlus predicted Nintendo would shut the whole thing down, and this morning it appears his prediction was accurate.
Initially, InfernoPlus tweeted to warn players something may be up.
And then, this:
And finally, this:
"Game got DMCA'd," reads a post on in the comments of Mario Royale's YouTube video. "We are currently swapping new assets in. Game is playable but it's ugly right now. Sorry!"
Mario Royale is now Infringio Royale, and all references to Mario and Nintendo have been removed. Mario himself has been replaced by a sprite who sort of looks like Mario but isn't. Enemy sprites have been replaced with original creations. The platforms are a different colour, the Mario audio is gone, and when you die, a voice says: "It looks like you've been copystruck. I'm sorry, my friend."
The new game works the same way as the old game, of course, and there are still pipes with things coming out and blocks and platforms to contend with, but without all the Mario madness, it'll no doubt lose some of its appeal.
What a great idea though! Perhaps Nintendo fancies it? I mean, if you can make Tetris battle royale, you can make anything battle royale.