Hi,

everyone is telling me that my game looks like Minecraft. It got to the point where it has real consequences, like a payment processing provider rejected me because the game looks to similar to other games (they probably meant Minecraft). I'm not kidding, that's the reason they gave me when I asked.

Am I doing anything wrong? I already tried to focus my marketing efforts on the stuff that is not like Minecraft, like... well... basically everything except for the cubes. And even they are smaller.

My website, if you want to have a look (not finished, most images are placeholders): https://cubeuniverse.net

What else can I do?

Also, can someone recommend a good payment processing provider? I'd like to have PayPal, SEPA Direct Debit, Credit Cards, Sofort (bank transfer) and Paysafecard.

Cheers,

Christopher

It looks to have the same appearance, right. But this is weird providers refused your game to my opinion. Many games were looking like Doom. Many games were looking like Unreal (and were actually using its engine). Many games are now using the Disney lighting model.

For me a look is not a game. Also there was a trend some times ago telling that most games will go Minecraft way (I'm not talking about if this is fallacious or not).

So they might do it only to protect themselves.

6 hours ago, _Silence_ said:

But this is weird providers refused your game to my opinion.

One word: Germany.

People here apparently have no idea about technology. I recently created an account on a government website and had to print and sign the confirmation page and fax it to them. I then got a physical letter stating that my account is now active.

I also have been asked multiple times whether my game contains violence. Why is that a problem? That's what the age ratings (USK etc.) are for!?

Also, there is no way to get funding for game development outside of private investors. And there are almost no investors who invest in games in Germany, I guess no one told them that you can make billions with a single game. There are multiple programs that supply you with money when you start a company, and they have some example use cases like a hair dresser or a car repair shop. People here are stuck in the 1980s apparently. Some in the 1930s, especially in Saxony.

Anyway, so you think it's not a problem that my game looks a little bit like Minecraft? But can and should I do more to distinguish it further?

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I guess no one told them that you can make billions with a single game.

Those are the exceptions, not the general rule. As an investment, game development is pretty high risk.

And for the casual observer, your screenshots look exactly like minecraft. As investors have to shift to a lot of proposals, they need to be impressed quickly. Not be reminded of something that exists already. And there is the risk that you used copyrighted materials, which is the most likely reason for the rejection.

For the non-casual observer, I see things that look like a copy-cat of minecraft, and some enhancements on the concept. But nothing that screams to me.

20 minutes ago, Daid said:

And there is the risk that you used copyrighted materials, which is the most likely reason for the rejection.

That is a stupid reason. There is no evidence or indication that I have used copyrighted material without the necessary permissions.

If that is their reason, they would need to reject every online shop because product images and descriptions could be copyrighted material that are used without the necessary permissions.

And why should a payment processing provider even care about that?

Investing in games has a high risk, yes. But it is much easier to find an investor for that in the US or Asia than in Germany. It is still not easy, but in Germany it is more likely to win the lottery than to find an investor for a game.

Apart from agreeing about the situation in germany, there is a public thing starting just about now to which you might apply - „De-minimis-Beihilfe zur Computerspiele-Entwicklung des Bundes“. 3rd of June or something like they start accepting applications.

Haven't looked too deeply yet, but it's sure worth checking out.

Also - put some more screenshots on your page, It sounds nice.

Apart from the payment processor, what other problems are you referring to?  I mean yeah, it looks kind of like Minecraft but there are many games that look similar too each other. IMO it's only a problem if potential players think "why should I play this clone when I can play Minecraft?".

Personalty I'm not a huge fan of blocky voxel games, however clearly Minecraft is hugely successful and you can't argue with success. I might try to distinguish my game in some obvious way.  Perhaps the artwork would be the place to start.

Another idea just came to me.  My own world uses prism voxels however I'm using smooth a marching algorithm so it's still smooth terrain. It strikes me however, one could use the same prism voxels on a spherical world but make them blocky like Minecraft. At least nobody would mistake it for Minecraft at a glance.

4 hours ago, ninnghazad said:

Apart from agreeing about the situation in germany, there is a public thing starting just about now to which you might apply - „De-minimis-Beihilfe zur Computerspiele-Entwicklung des Bundes“. 3rd of June or something like they start accepting applications.

They give you 50% of the cost, up to €200,000. However, you need to have the rest of the money beforehand. So in order to get 200k, you need to have 200k. Not really helpful in my case. If I somehow get 200k until the end of August, I will look into it, thank you.

I need to find a payment processing provider before that, though...

1 hour ago, Acharis said:

BTW, I would also reconsider if you need a payment processor in the first place.

How would I be able to receive money if not through a payment processing provider?

1 hour ago, Acharis said:

It does look like Minecraft (textures). Also things like "An exotic planet with mushroom biomes" do not help (why do you insist on mushroom biomes when mushroom biome is one of the unique Minecraft biomes? Why not, I don't know, tentacle biome or crystal biome?)

There are hundreds of Minecraft texturepacks. The textures I use do not look like the default Minecraft textures. Comparing it to community-created content does not make much sense.

There are no crystal or tentacle biomes because I cannot create them currently due to a lack of time and a lack of skill to make the textures. And mushroom biomes are very rare in Minecraft (thus not typically associated with Minecraft) and look completely different.