Game coming out that is similar to mine: How to deal?

Make yours better than the other one. Market it heavier. Crush them into the dust with your awesomeness.

Nothing else you can do.

You guys are my friends, right?

Is that a plea to make us pre-disposed to be biased in favor of your game?

How would you guys deal with a game on the same platform you're about to release to getting released that is similar to yours?

How similar? Similar enough that you think they stole your ideas? Is the art style the same? The gameplay? The characters? Same story? Similar sounding music?

With how many game developers there are now, churning out games rapidly, and how similar most games are to others in their genre, it's not unusual. Is your game entirely 100% unique from every other game that already exists, or was your game inspired by popular games that you enjoyed? Can other people not be inspired by those same games?

And seeing how there are only about eight mainstream platforms, and most games try to be cross-platform, and how certain platforms are more likely to attract certain genres, and how game design decisions follow trends that you yourself may be unconsciously following, the idea that a similar game would appear on the same platform as your game is not in itself noteworthy.

Until you give more specific comparison, all we know is that "a similar" game has been released.

Don't give us details about the game you think is infringing, but maybe do show us your game, if you got screenshots or video to share.

It can be pretty bummy when it appears that your work is too similar to others. Do you think it's actually being stolen, or just happens to be similar? Is your game based around a single gimmick (like AntiChamber, or Portal, Crayon Physics, Braid, and so on)?

I don't think anybody's copying anybody. I haven't posted anything about my game for the most part, and I've only just noticed a bit ago this other guy's project on a forum post in Nintendo's "super secret dev area".

Just unfortunate timing I guess. To be honest it was the art style that was similar to mine that got me distraught. Guess I'll just have to deal and do what Sean says -- or delay. Which isn't fun for anybody...

Is that a plea to make us pre-disposed to be biased in favor of your game?

I post that just about every time I go somewhere to ask for help, actually, lol.

Lie down.

Try not to cry.

Cry a lot.

The question is: how similar?

For example, I had an idea about an RTS with "time travel" based mechanics. Sometime later, without implementing anything, my attention was drawn to Achron.

My first thoughts were: they totally made "my" game. However, on careful reading about the game and watching some of the videos, I saw they approached it from a totally different angle than I had planned. They actually appear to have implemented the ability to replay past events, whereas my idea was to have a system where you could essentially borrow resources now from your future self, but if you couldn't repay that debt within the allotted timespan, any units you built using these resources, and any damage said units did, would be undone.

Of course, being but an early, untested idea, it is quite possible that my version wouldn't be fun. That said, their version sounds quite complex, perhaps mine could be easier to get into and reason about strategically. I reckon the two games would feel totally different, even though they have a similar core idea.

For reference: since I've learned of their game I put no further thought into developing "my" version and put that energy into other ideas instead.

Game coming out that is similar to mine: How to deal?

Business/legal question. Moving this to the Business / Law forum.

Compete !!

Realy, imagine review-sites/magazines making a straight-up comparison between your game and the other, unless they 're practically clones differences wil come out and

it could be a great marketing strategy. Do make sure your game isn't (much) worse than the competition though.

Players LIKE similar games. That's why you get so many Diner-dash games - someone into that style of game will play lots of them.

I think the best solution would be to offer free bacon with every purchase of your game.

Jokes aside, you could try changing part of your game (only small, but noticeable ways) to reduce the amount of similarities, or contact the other developer (if they're not a big one, of course) and work something out directly. If the other developer is more established than you, a legal dispute is a bad idea as the larger companies are likely to win (no offense intended).

Publish your game before they do, and make sure that you market it heavily so that it is notable and that when they release their game, it will "look like yours" (as opposed to "yours looking like theirs").

In the eyes of the public, whatever came first is the original.

This still does not stop them or anyone else from being more successful than you. This depends on who will have the better marketing and the more appealing product at the time.

Well, you should polish your game to make it almost flawless. If there are no infringments of copyright or something of that kind, you can do nothing but offer your game to big guys before that similar project do! Try to overcome them in gaining more publicity for your game then their could possible achieve. Submit to various marketplaces and publishers faster then them. If you fail and lose the race, the publishers are most likely not to license the game that is similar to the game they've just licensed.

So, in your case, time is money!