Shameless Clones of Viral Hit Games Like Megabonk Continue to Plague PS Store 1
Image: Push Square

While it's not the only platform with the problem, the PS Store is riddled with cheap knock-offs of successful games, and it continues apace.

This September saw the arrival of Megabonk on PC — it's a Vampire Survivors-esque horde survival game, only in full 3D and with its own ideas thrown on top.

It didn't take long to make a splash, and currently as well over 20,000 'Very Positive' Steam reviews. At the time of writing, there are more than 24,000 people playing.

This is perfect fodder for making a quick buck on PS Store. Megabonk has yet to come to consoles — though given its success we would expect that to happen eventually — but already there are one or two games on Sony's storefront aiming to fool customers.

Currently available for purchase is Megabonk Smash, a cheap imitation of the real deal. One small silver lining is that it seems PS Store users are wise to it, as the knock-off has a rating of 1.13, with 97% of 92 ratings giving it one star.

Also listed on PS Store is Ultra Bonk Survivors, which is apparently due for release in 2026 and seems to be another copycat.

There are plenty of other examples of this kind of activity on PS Store. A cursory scroll through new releases on PS5 reveals Peachy Derby, which is almost certainly trying to cash in on Umamusume: Pretty Derby.

A while ago we recall seeing numerous knock-offs of Supermarket Simulator, which has since announced an official port to consoles.

Anyway, it all leads back to this conundrum of curation versus freedom of choice. Some think there need to be better checks in place to prevent blatant rip-offs from releasing, but of course there's an argument for keeping places like PS Store an open market where anyone can publish a game.

What do you think? Discuss in the comments section below.

[source store.playstation.com]