If you’ve been playing games on your phone, you may have noticed some familiar faces from games around the 2010 era. I was puzzled when I first saw this, wondering if anything was being done about it. Then I saw another ad with stolen characters, and another, and another…

It honestly doesn’t seem to stop. What’s worse is that I’m so used to seeing this happen that it clearly means that the people making the ads clearly aren’t stopped.

If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, allow me to go over a few of these cases. Please note that there are more instances of this type of theft and that these examples are just what I recently have seen.

Gears of War - Berserker

 
I would be a little creeped out too if this guy was peeking through my window.

Seem familiar? If you’ve played Gears of War by Epic Games, you’d recognize this bundle of sunshine as a berserker. They were a terrifyingly large, but blind, monster that would hunt you by sound. In other words, this creature was created back in 2006. This image is from an ad for Doomsday: Last Survivors (which, in typical mobile gaming fashion, sounds like it came from a terrible name generator that uses a list of 10 words). The game initially launched on the Google Play Store on September 15th, 2021. Considering that I took this screenshot last week, the ad is showcasing someone else’s 17 year old work.

 Here is a capture from the game and a concept render of the Berserker from the Gears of War franchise for comparison.

Resident Evil 3 - Jill Valentine

 
Ever play Resident Evil 3? She looks an awful lot like Jill Valentine.

This one is admittedly less blatant because it’s clear that the artist made slight changes. Regardless of the style, it is still Jill Valentine from her appearance in Resident Evil 3 as you will see in the comparison photos.

 
Left: Jill Valentine from the original Resident Evil 3 game. Right: Jill V from the more recent remake.

Splinter Cell: Double Agent - Sam Fisher

 
Sam seems to be working for the Mafia now.

This one is another straight rip from the game. No alterations or anything of the sort, just absolute theft. As you can see in the image above, the game Mafia City is the one taking Sam as their own. I know Sam had to do some questionable things in Splinter Cell: Double Agent so he didn’t blow his cover, but I’m really confused about his angle here. Must be helping out another uninspired and quick-buck-fueled company with his cameo!

 
Sam even helps out with the heavy lifting.

 
This is the only one that has any alterations to it to attempt to hide what they've done.

 
Last one. I promise.

And now for the comparison:

 
Screenshot from the prison level in Splinter Cell: Double Agent. Sam Fisher is on the left.

 
Sam doesn't like being stolen.

Will this sort of thing stop? The short answer is no. The people who do this reside in countries that have absolutely no care for copyright laws (such as Russia, China, and surprisingly the Netherlands). You can expect to continue to see more of this type of advertising and other “developments.”