Warner Bros' Westworld mobile game, which bore a notable resemblance to Bethesda Softworks' Fallout Shelter game for smartphones, has been removed from the iOS App Store and Google Play Store. The removal comes seven months after Bethesda sued Warner Bros by calling the Westworld app a "blatant rip-off" of Bethesda's 2015 game Fallout Shelter.

westworld

Westworld on iOS

The lawsuit centered around Behaviour Interactive, the game developer that worked on both Fallout Shelter and Westworld, and who Bethesda accused of breach of contract, copyright infringement, unfair competition, and misappropriation of trade secrets. The dispute continued into the year, and in early January 2019 the companies released a simple one-line statement that said both parties "have amicably resolved" the lawsuit.

After all of this, the @WestworldMobile Twitter account this week released its own statement, noting that the game has been removed from the iOS ‌App Store‌ and Google Play Store as of January 15, 2019. This means players can no longer make in-app purchases. On April 16, 2019, the app will officially close and no longer be supported by the developers. The developers warn players to spend any in-game currency before that date.

ww statement


In the original lawsuit, Bethesda requested the Westworld mobile game to be removed from distribution, so it appears that part of the amicable resolution to the case was the official discontinuation of Westworld on iOS and Android. Users on Twitter asked about potential refunds for the in-app purchases they've already made in the game, but the company has yet to respond regarding this matter.

For those unaware, the similarities between Fallout Shelter and Westworld were striking. Both games task the player with building an underground base of some kind, stocked with interactive characters from a well-known property, and micro-managing small tasks to keep their shelter/Delos facility up and running. Most damning for Westworld and Behaviour Interactive was the discovery that the developer appeared to use the same copyrighted computer code from Fallout Shelter inside of Westworld, down to both games having the same unique bug.

falloutshelter

Fallout Shelter on iOS

Although Westworld has been removed from the iOS ‌App Store‌, it still remains online for now, so players who already downloaded it have three months to play the game while it remains online through April 16.

(Thanks, Nate!)

Top Rated Comments

Juicy Box Avatar
89 months ago
Although Westworld has been removed from the iOS App Store, it still remains online for now, so players who already downloaded it have three months to play the game while it remains online through April 16.
I really think this is one of the biggest problems with mobile gaming, digital media, and gaming on the iOS.

A game can just be lost forever.

I play a lot of retro games, but for many iOS titles, that just won’t be possible.

I can play my old Atari 2600 or 5200 games, my old NES, SNES, N64, GC, and GB games. If there was one I wanted to play , but don’t currently own, chances are I can find it online somewhere.

But, the user has little control over the fate of digital media, and once games are no longer available on the App Store, they are just gone and eventually forgotten.

I just find it a little sad.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ArtOfWarfare Avatar
89 months ago
That "iPhone" doesn't have a notch.
iPhone screenshots are always full rectangles - the rounded corners and notched part are filled in. Apple's developer guides explicitly tell developers to treat the drawable area as a full rectangle and to not avoid drawing in the corners or notches just because current devices have those features. That allows Apple to change the curvature of the corners or adjust the notch dimensions and not worry about apps not drawing in those spaces appropriately.

At the same time, obviously developers should be mindful of those features and not put important information or require the user to touch those areas.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mattyj2001 Avatar
89 months ago
No, the article originally showed a phone, captioned "Westworld on iOS", without a notch (see my updated first post for the image). They've updated the article to change the image, but didn't note that they did so as journalists normally do. Thanks for dev-splaining to a developer though.
Thanks for being so pedantic about a screenshot. Not a waste of everyone's time at all.
[doublepost=1547661908][/doublepost]The headline really should be "Shady game developer tries to sell the same game twice." I wonder how Zynga got away with all their game thievery back in the day.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
makitango Avatar
89 months ago
The scourge of online games; they decide when you can play and when you can‘t.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mikey44 Avatar
89 months ago
I really think this is one of the biggest problems with mobile gaming, digital media, and gaming on the iOS.

A game can just be lost forever.

I play a lot of retro games, but for many iOS titles, that just won’t be possible.

But, the user has little control over the fate of digital media, and once games are no longer available on the App Store, they are just gone and eventually forgotten.

I just find it a little sad.
I miss Rolando, which was one of the first most popular games on iOS when it first came out, and the developer was bought out, and it's just gone. Unless I had a backup of it in iTune... wait, oh, and the developer would have to make it available in 64 bit. I agree, it's quite sad. :(

I wonder how much money I have wasted on apps that no longer are listed, or are just gone from the App Store. It kinda pisses me off.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GubbyMan Avatar
89 months ago
I have my iPhone 3GS with all the games I used to play on it. Two of the games I have are Tap Tap Revenge 2 & 3 installed on it. I play these games every once in a while. Tapulous the company behind the games shut down their servers about 6 or 7 years ago so no one have been able to install them since then even though they are still in the purchased tab and can be downloaded on iOS 11 or prior.

The games have to contact the server the first time they are launched. So I could not get them to work even on my iPhone 5 with 32-bit support. If anything happens to my iPhone 3GS and I can not reinstall these apps with the same data then I will loose the Tap Tap games forever and I will never be able to relive the memory of playing them again.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
maxresdefault

Apple TV 4K Could Still Launch Before 2025 Ends: All the Rumored Features

Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors. ...
iOS 26

6 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.1

Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below. Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
M6 MacBook Pro Feature 1

M6 MacBook Pro: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Monday October 27, 2025 9:15 am PDT by
Apple this month refreshed the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, and higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are expected to follow in early 2026. However, these machines will represent the final update to the current design, with Apple reportedly developing a completely new version of the MacBook Pro packed with next-generation hardware...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1 Release Candidates

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:07 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The RCs betas come a week after Apple released the fourth betas. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software...
iOS 26 Battery Glass Feature

iOS 26.1 Beta Liquid Glass Battery Drain Test: Tinted vs Clear Mode

Friday October 24, 2025 2:30 pm PDT by
In the fourth iOS 26.1 beta, Apple added a "Tinted" option that reduces the translucency of Liquid Glass for those who prefer a more opaque look. I saw some comments wondering whether the setting might preserve battery life, so I thought I'd do some testing. Test Settings I did four separate tests using the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and I kept the parameters as similar as possible. Here are the...
ios 26 digital id passport wallet

Apple Says U.S. Passport Feature on iPhone is Coming Soon

Monday October 27, 2025 7:41 am PDT by
You will "soon" be able to add a digital version of your U.S. passport to your iPhone, according to Jennifer Bailey, vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet. Bailey reiterated that the feature is coming soon during her keynote at the Money20/20 USA conference in Las Vegas on Sunday. On its iOS 26 page, Apple says the delayed feature will be "coming later this year." Apple's...
All Screen iPhone 2027 Feature 1

iPhone XX? 6 Features Rumored for Apple's 20th Anniversary iPhone

Monday October 27, 2025 4:01 pm PDT by
For the 10th anniversary iPhone that came out in 2017, Apple introduced the iPhone X with Face ID, notch, and minimized bezels, providing more display space than ever before. The 20th iPhone anniversary is approaching and Apple wants to take the iPhone X design even further. We're two years away from the 2027 iPhone, but it's tough for Apple to keep major changes under wraps. We've rounded...
macos tahoe

Here Are Apple's Release Notes for macOS Tahoe 26.1

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:21 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of macOS Tahoe 26.1, which means the update will likely see a public launch next week. The release candidate includes notes on what's in the update, so we have a full picture of the new features that Apple has included. macOS Tahoe 26.1 adds AutoMix support over AirPlay, improved FaceTime audio...