Fallout Shelter vs. West World Mobile Games

HBO's West World just released a new game that is eerily similar to Fallout Shelter. If you haven't tried it, it's definitely worth checking out - especially if you are a fan of the show, which is now airing its second season (finale this Sunday). Bethesda, the creators of Fallout Shelter, are apparently outraged enough to launch a lawsuit against the game's creators and HBO. Let's explore the similiarities between the games.

Same Developer, Different Publishers

On first playing the game, it's immediately apparent from the art style and game mechanics that the game is at least influenced by Fallout Shelter. But, on closer look it seems that the games are created by the same developer, who was first commissioned by Bethesda to create Fallout Shelter mobile game.

HBO, as it seems, went to the same developer and had them base a game on the same engine and mechanics. The creators of Fallout Shelter claim that the development company re-used the same code, allowing HBO to get their game into the market for a much cheaper cost - since the heavy lifting was paid for by Fallout Shelter. The lawsuit from Bethesda uses an early bug that was apparent in the beta release of Fallout Shelter as proof that the game engine was stolen, as West World's game has the very same bug.

And similar to Fallout Shelter, the West World mobile game has working cheat codes thanks to it using the same game engine.

The Engine has Been Upgraded

There's definitely been some upgrades - including the ability to track way more characters on screen. At times West World has up to 30 or 40 separate characters moving about the screen. Your phone will get very hot at times playing the game, unlike Fallout Shelter, which seemed to have much less power used when playing the game.

One need only look at game play from both of these games to see how while it's clearly the same engine and much of the artwork is similar, Fallout shelter game has been vastly improved on and customized to fit the narrative and story of West World.

Fallout Shelter Gamplay