Controversy Surrounds Bleak Faith: Forsaken Over Stolen Elden Ring Animations

By | Niranjan Bhargav 15 Mar, 2023

Bleak Faith: Forsaken, an upcoming indie game, faced allegations this week of using stolen animations from Elden Ring. After comparisons between the animations in Bleak Faith and Elden Ring, it became clear that the two sets of animations were identical. The developer, Archangel, initially claimed that the animations had been purchased through Epic Marketplace. However, after Epic removed the assets from its store, Archangel started replacing them.

Epic’s Response

Epic, the company that owns the digital marketplace, released a statement regarding the situation. The statement highlights that it can’t verify all third-party content sold through its platforms. Epic said, “As with any store that hosts third-party content… Epic is not in a position to independently verify such rights, and Epic makes no such guarantee to purchasers of the content.”

Archangel’s Response:

Archangel has claimed that approximately ten percent of the game’s animations were outsourced through the Epic Marketplace. They have since begun the process of replacing the stolen animations. Despite this, Archangel has expressed dissatisfaction with Epic’s response, claiming it was unsatisfactory.

Saw this footage floating around. Bleak Faith: Forspoken is 100% using animations ripped directly 1:1 from Elden Ring.

I do NOT condone people using my DS Anim Studio software to aid in exporting animations to include in commercial products or sell them on Epic Games Store. pic.twitter.com/9JHGMeu9as
— Meowmaritus (@meowmaritus) March 12, 2023

Other Instances of Asset Theft:

Unfortunately, Bleak Faith is not the first game to face allegations of asset theft. Earlier this year, the developers of Dark and Darker faced similar accusations. The Day Before is also embroiled in controversy after some noticed that the opening scenes of its latest gameplay video appeared to be taken from other trailers.

While it remains to be seen how this situation will affect the future of Bleak Faith: Forsaken, it’s clear that developers need to be more cautious about where they source their assets. With digital marketplaces like Epic making it easier than ever to find third-party assets, it’s crucial that developers ensure they have the necessary rights to use them. Hopefully, the outcome of this situation will serve as a warning to other developers, preventing similar controversies from arising in the future.

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