#Funtime is an upcoming game whose core gameplay involves raising thousands of children together with your wolf-girl wife. After its demo launched on Itch.io, it went viral in certain internet circles and recently officially released on the Steam store. According to SteamDB data, it ranked 66th on the Steam wishlist chart on October 6th, rising to 46th by October 16th, with its ranking continuing to climb rapidly. This surge in popularity has led to a classic scenario in the Steam market: the emergence of a plagiarized work that copies almost Everythinggj, including the exact same name.
The official #Funtime is the latest work from developer sgthale. The brief description on Steam already summarizes the game's core: "Build a large family with thousands of wolf cubs together with your wolf partner!" Currently, the game has gained immense popularity thanks to its kemonomimi (animal ear) setting and the core appeal of "competitive child-rearing."
In the game, the highly fertile "wolf mom" almost constantly adds new members to the family, which is actually a good thing—you can command the children to help hunt animals and build shelters. However, if you fail to properly care for these thousands of little wolf cubs, you will lose the game. Essentially, this is a casual colony simulation game focused on resource balance, but judging by the online reaction, many players got into it purely to hear the anime-style wolf cubs call out "Mama" and ask for hugs and cuddles.
Let's talk about this copycat version of #Funtime released by developer Hilly Games. sgthale stated that they have sent a DMCA takedown notice for this plagiarized work. Even setting aside the identical name, the signs of plagiarism are everywhere. The Steam description for this knockoff game reads: "You and your friends get into a car accident and meet a fox mother in the wilderness. Raise thousands of fox cubs with her, teaching them skills like farming, building, and hunting! Supports 1-4 player online co-op." Even its Steam store page layout is a direct copy.
Hilly Games seems to have calculated that by riding the wave of the original #Funtime's popularity and adding the appeal of multiplayer gameplay, they could profit from plagiarism while using "we're foxes, not wolves" as a universal excuse. However, so far, this game has only received a barrage of criticism. Its Steam discussion forums are almost entirely filled with complaint posts, with players angrily denouncing it as "blatant plagiarism" or joking, "Bro, you just copied my homework directly."
In an interview with GamesRadar+, sgthale clarified: "This constitutes infringement of expression, as they copied our promotional banners, game descriptions, and page layout. Of course, anyone can make a child-rearing game, and I'm happy to pioneer this new trend in gaming. We have already issued a DMCA takedown notice, but Steam's processing speed is incredibly slow. There was a latest development a few days ago where Steam asked if I requested the removal of this plagiarized game, and I gave an affirmative answer. We are still waiting for further action."
Nowadays, with AI-generated plagiarized works and reskinned games emerging endlessly, more and more game developers—especially indie developers with almost no legal resources or financial support—are extremely wary of their games being completely copied. Some developers even suggest not revealing too many game details to increase the difficulty of plagiarism.
Last month, Needle in a Haystack Simulator, true to its name, faced a wave of plagiarism, with numerous knockoffs flooding Steam as quickly as ants swarming a dropped sandwich. The popularity of this fun mini-game exceeded expectations, leading to a rush of poorly made plagiarized works. The developer, Studio Bitdot, even publicly apologized for this chaos.
This knockoff version of #Funtime does not state on its Steam page whether AI was used, whereas the official game has publicly disclosed its AI usage. sgthale stated: "We only used AI to create concept art, prototype textures, and quick mesh tests; all of this content will eventually be replaced with hand-drawn designs and custom models by our artists."
sgthale's previous chatbot sandbox game released on Steam, My Robot, also sparked some controversy due to its "optional AI features," but the developer emphasized: "Players can deploy local AI models themselves, ensuring complete privacy. You can also use our online AI service, or combine both methods!" Currently, the developer's Patreon crowdfunding page generates over $49,000 in monthly income, with two membership tiers offering "AI tokens" benefits for My Robot.