Chinese investment company Tencent releases mobileOverwatchclone calledAce Forceand it has quickly become one of the highest grossing games on the iOS App Store.Overwatchdeveloper Blizzard Entertainment has filedlawsuits against other Overwatch clone developers, but it’s unclear if it plans to take action against theAce Forceteam too.
Ace Force, released under Tencent’s MoreFun banner, is now available on iOS and Android devices in China. The game looks an awful lot likeOverwatchand a comparison image byAbacus Newsreveals thatAce Forcecharacters Dragon, Commander, and Genius Kid are copies ofOverwatchcharacters Soldier: 76, Widowmaker, and Torbjorn. The mobile hero shooter is nearly indistinguishable fromOverwatch, to the point where viewers would have to look twice at videos and GIFs ofAce Forceto double check that it isn’t just a pared down version of the Blizzard game.
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While the game isn’t much different fromOverwatch, it seems that many are excited about the idea of playing a game like that on mobile devices. Sensor Tower’s Chinese App Store chart reveals that the game is now the #1 highest grossing iOS game in the country. The free to play game is likely set to grow its playerbase too as MoreFun will be adding more modes in future. One of these is adog battle royale mode, which sounds like one of few new ideas offered by the mobile clone.
It’s unclear how or if Blizzard plans to respond to the game. Clone games for the Chinese mobile market are a dime a dozen, with NetEase, Blizzard’s partner for Overwatch in China, being sued too.PlayerUnknown’s BattlegroundsdeveloperPUBG Corp sued NetEasefor its mobile battle royale games,Knives OutandRules of Survival. As long asAce Forcedoesn’t take a bite out ofOverwatch’s Chinese playerbase, Blizzard may just let the game carry on.
However, this could also be the shove that Blizzard needs to make an official mobile version ofOverwatch. Fans have called for a Nintendo Switch version ofOverwatch, or a version of the game for iOS and Android so that they can rack up wins and unlock loot boxes on the go. Thesuccess ofPUBG Mobileand the mobile version ofFortnitemay have also given Blizzard another reason to work on mobile Overwatch. For now though, nothing has been confirmed, andAce Forceand clones like it will probably keep being released.
Overwatchis available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
