A game apparently ripped off from Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us disappears from the Nintendo Switch eShop after Sony filed a copyright claim.

A highly questionable software that apparently tried to mimic The Last of Us has now disappeared from the Nintendo Switch eShop. The game in question, The Last Hope: Dead Zone Survival, caused a bit of a stir when it arrived on the eShop. As it appeared to be a cheap copy of Naughty Dog’s game.

The Last Hope was made available on the Switch online store in early July, prompting derisive reactions from fans and critics alike.

Many commenters pointed out that the game’s title, premise, protagonist design and more made it seem like a not-so-subtle imitation of the widely beloved 2013 classic The Last of Us. The Last Hope’s store page wasn’t even correctly labelled. It was marked as a first-person shooter, despite clearly featuring a third-person perspective. This led many to conclude that the game was just another example of the scams plaguing the industry.

Following widespread backlash, The Last Hope has now been taken off the air. A Nintendo Life investigation has confirmed that the game is no longer available on the US or UK versions of the Nintendo Switch eShop. While no official announcement has been made about the cancellation, it is almost certainly due to Sony Interactive’s copyright claim. This is strongly suggested by the fact that the trailer for The Last Hope on YouTube has also been deleted. The message attached to the now-removed video confirms that its deletion was due to Sony’s copyright claim. This result is perhaps unsurprising, as copyright claims by significant games companies are often awarded for far less than was attempted in the case of The Last Hope.

Before it was removed from the eShop, The Last Hope was mercilessly panned by critics, and videos such as the one linked below showed just how sloppy, lazy and virtually unworkable the game was.

When done right, clones of classic franchises like Grand Theft Auto and others can become high-quality, beloved games in their own right. The overwhelmingly negative response to The Last Hope, however, indicates that the project did not even come close to meeting these quality expectations.

It’s a bit odd that Nintendo would even allow such a dubious product to be on the eShop platform. Not surprisingly, the game has now been taken down. Fans can still find things to love about The Last of Us a decade later. It’s safe to say that no one will miss The Last Hope now that it’s gone.

Source: Nintendo Life