Capcom accused of plagiarism by XBLA dev

Capcom has come under fire for its App Store title MaXplosion, with indie studio Twisted Pixel blasting the Japanese publisher for what it has called "complete theft" of successful XBLA title 'Splosion Man.

'Splosion Man hit XBLA in July 2009 to critical acclaim and proceeded to sell well, becoming part of the US Summer of Arcade deal and hitting the top of the XBLA chart in December last year after a massive price cut.

Capcom's MaXplosion is now live on the App Store for 59p, and shows an uncanny resemblance to the gameplay concepts behind Twisted Pixel's title.

"MaXplosion gameplay video makes me sad," tweeted Twisted Pixel programmer Mike Henry. "If you're going to outright steal a game, you should at least understand what makes it fun," adding later; "Borrowing is great. Hell, we do it all the time. But that game is a complete theft."

Twisted Pixel co-founder Michael Wilford also expressed his concerns via Twitter, telling followers that the idea for 'Splosion Man had actually been pitched to and turned down by Capcom previously.

"Not sure what to say about MaXplosion," he said. "Pisses me off. Guess we're just gonna have to make a better iPhone game than them. Shouldn't be hard," followed by "Best part is, we originally pitched @Splosion_Man to Capcom and they said no."

"I'll always love Capcom bc of what they brought to my childhood, but WTF have they turned into? First they lose Inafune, now this," the developer concluded.

Capcom are refraining from commenting on the issue at present.