Counterfeit Lugaru Removed from App Store; Original Creators Offering Free Versions to Clone Buyers

Last week we reported on an open source game called Lugaru that had been copied wholesale and put up on the Mac App Store, undercutting the price of the official version. Now the situation has been resolved, and the creators are making a generous offer to those who bought the clone.

In a blog post, Wolfire's Jeffrey Rosen says the team wants to provide for those who bought the illegitimate copy. "If you accidentally purchased the fake Lugaru, you can forward your receipt to [Wolfire] and we will give you an authentic version of Lugaru HD, as well as a bonus Steam key for your trouble."

As for how the clone was yanked, the team at Wolfire seems stumped. They haven't heard back from Apple and are unsure what prompted the removal. Alex Matlin of iCoder, the company responsible for the clone, told Kotaku that it "was removed from sale by the development team," but didn't elaborate. We sent out word to iCoder for clarification, but haven't heard back.