In 2021, one of the most common uses of NFTs has become ironic. NFTs are tracked using blockchain technology to prove ownership of a given piece of art, and this ownership has sometimes gone for tens of millions of dollars. The unfortunate reality behind this new trend is that digital artists often have their own works turned into NFTs without their permission, resulting in the artists scrambling to file for DMCA takedowns and prove copyright ownership of their own pieces.
An indie game named Wildfire has recently had its assets used in the marketing of another alleged indie game, Epic Hero Battles, though it's unclear if this is a video game at all. The creator of Wildfire, Dan Hindes, called out Epic Hero Battles on Twitter for using his art as the backdrop on its website without his permission, but further digging reveals that most of its art so far has been stolen from other artists as well, including ones that haven't been found or named yet.
What is Epic Hero Battles and How Does it Use NFTs?
It's unclear what kind of indie game Epic Hero Battles is meant to be, what development studio it's being made by, and what other developers are on its team. Much of the information shared through the game's official website and Twitter (which was only made this month and has had much of its content deleted) is very vague. Some users are attempting to find out more information through Epic Hero Battles' official Discord, but its creator, 0xArdds, has been reluctant to reveal very much information about the game.
Supposedly, Epic Hero Battles is a battle royale game where players will purchase heroes in the form of NFTs through the marketplace OpenSea. Though each NFT looks to operate as a different fighter in the game, they are all similar variations, mostly of the same old man but in different clothes, holding a different weapon, and next to a pet. According to the OpenSea page, each NFT is one of 10,000 uniquely generated pairs, and they each have various skills and strengths, like a Human hero type, Magic Resistance, and the Trident of the Ending weapon. Theoretically, this would influence battle dynamics and would likely take some time to just get the kinks worked out, especially because battle royales typically operate online.
According to 0xArdds on Discord, the game has been in development since May and is expected to release in November. However, as some Discord users pointed out, this is an extremely short development turnaround time, especially for a game being made only by "a small group of friends," 0xArdds said on Discord, further lending people to believe that this isn't a game in development at all, but rather a quick cash grab by selling a few NFTs.
To corroborate this, when asked who else is on this team, including the "recently" hired artists, 0xArdds neglected to answer. In fact, when posed with these kinds of questions, the alleged developer would boot people from the Discord server. This, of course, also raises the question of why 0xArdds didn't simply hire artists or properly obtain the rights to use the 2D pixel art in the first place.
The Art Stolen by Epic Hero Battles
This controversy came about when Wildfire's developer Dan Hindes posted a side-by-side comparison of the Epic Hero Battles webpage next to a Wildfire title card, showing that the pixel art had clearly been ripped without his permission. Soon after, the official Epic Hero Battles Twitter responded that it had removed this from its site, calling it a "mistake," and would "not happen again."
Following that, however, other users pointed out other stolen assets as well, and they were only pulled from the site after the Twitter account was notified of such. For example, itch.io user Elthen noticed their work being used for promotional purposes by this upcoming battle royale game and told the developer it was against their licensing policy. Hindes also pointed out that the backdrop used on the website—now also taken down and replaced with a plain gray wall—is by pixel artists known as Boki Boki.
Still, some assets are currently being used on the Epic Hero Battles Twitter page, such as a pink and purple sunset for its banner and profile icon. While no artist has come forward to claim them, it's likely these are the work of someone else as well. Additionally, many have noticed that the art styles used in the NFTs are inconsistent, from the backdrops to the style of the man, the weapons, and the companions. It's quite possible these assets have been pulled from different places and were grafted together to make the animated NFTs for sale. This would explain why reverse image searches don't return anything; they are "original" images using stolen art.
Again, there likely isn't a game in development. Many users believe that this is a single person using a pixel art indie game as a front to sell a few NFTs to make a quick buck. Of course, there is a possibility this battle royale is being made, but there's more evidence stacked against it. The Twitter account was made this month and only has a few posts on it; either it exists just to sell those NFTs or it's been wiped of content. Unfortunately, regardless of if this is a real game being developed or not, if 0xArdds is able to sell those NFTs anyway, because of the blockchain ledger, the proper artists could have a more difficult time claiming ownership of them in the future.