PC game accused of purloining Oblivion assets

Limbo of the Lost allegedly borrows environments from Bethesda's latest Elder Scrolls game; publisher caught unawares, developer unreachable.

The word "limbo" is a thesaurus-suggested synonym of "oblivion." So it's oddly fitting that Majestic Studios' Limbo of the Lost is under fire for apparently stealing art from Bethesda Softworks' The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

This is Oblivion.

As pointed out by GamePlasma, some of the environments in Limbo of the Lost bear a striking resemblance to areas of Oblivion, from textures used to room layouts and the objects that populate them. Although the similarities in the screenshots are undeniable, the games themselves are quite different in practice.

Published by Tri Synergy, Limbo of the Lost is a point-and-click adventure game in which players guide protagonist Captain Benjamin Spooner Briggs as he explores the realm of Limbo and The Keep of Lost Souls at its heart. Released in 2006 for the PC and Xbox 360 and the following year for the PlayStation 3, Oblivion is an open-world role-playing game in which players can create their own characters and save a kingdom from encroaching demons that are tearing holes in the fabric of reality.

A Tri Synergy representative addressed the matter for GameSpot, saying that the publisher had no previous knowledge of the issue. He also said a question had been raised about similar issues with Limbo of the Lost and Eidos' 2004 action adventure game Thief: Deadly Shadows.

This is Limbo.

"We're seeing this for the first time," the representative emphasized. "We had no idea any of this was going on."

Tri Synergy has already given Limbo of the Lost a limited release, and the representative said that it had not determined what to do regarding plans to release the game to major retailers such as Best Buy. So far, the publisher's attempts to reach the developer have not been successful, given that the team has apparently been on vacation after completing development on Limbo. The representative also said that Tri Synergy has not been in direct contact with Bethesda or Eidos yet.

A representative from Bethesda told GameSpot that the company was aware of the issue but was unable to comment on the matter. An Eidos representative had not returned a request for comment.

406 Comments

  • starduke

    Posted Jun 23, 2009 7:41 am GMT

    Ludicrious...absolutely ludicrious. it really does look like they stole form Oblivion. What, they couldn't come up with anything original? How lame is that?

  • tony382

    Posted Feb 8, 2009 1:04 am GMT

    Did they really think it would go unnoticed? Especially with the popularity of Oblivion. Such idiots, I could see if they copied an unknown game, but something from Bethesda? I can't believe they would rip the exact same design off, not even try to change a bit. They must of used the ES Construction set....lol

  • Fady117

    Posted Feb 6, 2009 6:42 am GMT

    ok everybody here's what i think.

    i did check the dictionary. the two words Limbo and Oblivion are somewhat related. Plus, Oblivion literally means "complete forgetfulness", and "Limbo of the LOST" adds even more similarity. then i checked these 2 pics. oh wow, truly, even a TES newbie could guess. EVERYTHING was copied from Oblivion, from floor carvings and table design, to walls, texture, lighting, and ALL items such as books, candles, shelves, dishes, wall carpets and alembics. What TriSynergy and Majestic did was to remove the Oblivion playtime components and add their own (compass + hand pointer), with minor lighting and background alterations. By removing Phintias from where he stood and altering the voice acting, we got a Limbo of the Lost scene. I wonder, even traveling between areas will prove to be much the same as Oblivion, as the doors are not animated. Anyone who looks at the Limbo pic without looking at the TES one could very much recognize the alembic, the door design, the wall texture, and the books. All in all this is game is a catastrophical failure, and a disgrace to Bethesda Studios. Laziness has its price....
    Thanks for your time!

  • Mr_Versipellis

    Posted Feb 5, 2009 6:08 pm GMT

    Holy crap... That really is an Oblivion mod!

  • Alex_09

    Posted Jan 31, 2009 4:07 am GMT

    Wow thats pretty sad. I am a big fan of Bethesda so its annoying to see them get ripped off. The game industry needs to learn that taking shortcuts, or in this case taking undeserved vacations, while dishing out recycled garbage will not help the consumer OR the producer. This game is probably finished just because of this, and if it does make any revenue now, which I doubt, I have a small feeling Bethesda and/or Eidos will be the only ones seeing a profit. Serves them right.

  • shani_boy101

    Posted Dec 20, 2008 6:50 pm GMT

    are people really that stupid? omg you were so lazy you decided to jack the textures and environments from an extremely popular game and thought you'd never get caught??? wow.

  • shani_boy101

    Posted Dec 20, 2008 6:47 pm GMT

    these guys have lost ALL respect from everyone, i play Oblivion and all they've done is use the SDK to take all the textures, and for Tri Synergy to say they had no idea, thats the biggest lie i've ever heard. Look at the windows, lighting, the rug on the wall, the counter, the door, the bookshelves and objects, ALL THE SAME.

    Tri Synergy, that's worse than piracy you fools, and thanks to this no-one will buy your game.

  • downloadthefile

    Posted Nov 19, 2008 4:53 pm GMT

    It is amazing that they were so stupid....of course no one who was an Oblivion fan will buy this game...at a glance they just look similar but if you inspect every detail, they are literally the same. Even the alchemy apparatus on the 2nd shelf, the flower pot on top of the little book thing on the main desk, everything is the same.

  • The_AI

    Posted Nov 9, 2008 1:33 pm GMT

    Limbo's graphics look like somebody threw up on Oblivion. O_o

  • skitchrick

    Posted Sep 5, 2008 2:13 pm GMT

    Hopefully they didn't copy the loot too.... 'cause DANG Bethesda... how many bolts of cloth and shoes can I carry?

  • Myounage posted Jun 26, 2008 2:55 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Myounage

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 2:55 pm GMT (hide)

    I'm not so sure, Oblivion's snoozey environments are so generic and uninspired that it could easily be coincidence.

  • ervinmanz

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 10:44 am GMT

    Well The Publisher Was a J@ck@$$ To relaese a game wich its envirnoments Were Copied From A popular Game With the titile TESblivion.Who in the right mind would do that?Well If there was a little brains in their Head The would Have Retextured The Files That they Stole
    From the Original creator.

  • tyboy191

    Posted Jun 24, 2008 1:55 pm GMT

    These guys just ruined their reputations, and their careers, just cus they were too lazy to make their own game environments....

  • sanjeev3

    Posted Jun 23, 2008 2:45 pm GMT

    "Ugh, I cant be bothered doing this*
    *sees oblivion in shelf*
    "On the other hand..."

  • radabaughxi

    Posted Jun 20, 2008 12:45 pm GMT

    To me that's just totally insane!! I mean, you gotta know someone is gonna notice, plus, how can you feel confident about your work when you yoink'd it from someone else!

  • king_bobo

    Posted Jun 18, 2008 11:00 pm GMT

    That's quite ridiculous. How could they think that they'd get away with that?

  • mgkennedy5

    Posted Jun 18, 2008 1:57 pm GMT

    idiots...

  • snaker49

    Posted Jun 18, 2008 6:08 am GMT

    thats gay

  • Shaun373

    Posted Jun 17, 2008 12:04 pm GMT

    This is the first time I looked at it and my first thought was, "REALLY!?" How on God's green Earth did they ever expect to get away with this. I can see it now:

    "Hey Jim, maybe we should re-shade and texture this room so that people don't realize we stole from Oblivion"
    "Nahh, no one will notice, man I got the munchies"

  • oblivionknight0

    Posted Jun 17, 2008 8:03 am GMT

    How could they do this and not realize they would be found out. Are people really that stupid....oh wait....yes, they are, they just proved it here. Seriously, they need to disband the company immediately after this.

  • Hiddos

    Posted Jun 17, 2008 5:08 am GMT

    O_O Holy .... something...
    Still Oblivion looks better xD, nice try Limbo

  • Darklaer

    Posted Jun 17, 2008 12:32 am GMT

    That is so stupidly funny how similar they are. Heck,you could use the Limbo one on a TES fansite and no1 would notice!

  • XJRockcrawler

    Posted Jun 16, 2008 5:54 pm GMT

    I don't see the similarities?
    /sarcasm

  • iforgotokie

    Posted Jun 16, 2008 4:38 pm GMT

    "Hey, you think they'll notice if we copy this? I mean, it wasn't that popular...

    Nah, you're good."

    Lawl.

  • Dagamemonkey

    Posted Jun 16, 2008 12:03 pm GMT

    Limbo should just fade from limbo and die for good because it probably would have been a stinky game anyway.

  • CompaqFS7600

    Posted Jun 16, 2008 9:00 am GMT

    Ha Limbo straight up jacked oblivion's enviroments and hoped to get away with.

  • Old_Gooseberry

    Posted Jun 16, 2008 7:23 am GMT

    ahhaha what the hell happened here... it looks like the stole the game engine from oblivion... even the books are in the same spot on the screenshots. sue them oblivion!!!

  • bybeach

    Posted Jun 15, 2008 7:20 pm GMT

    Data dream- you are totally right. Majesco is what i am used to hearing., and i didn`t pay attention when typing. Confused about it, no, screwed up..yeah.. now me and that guy in charge of quality control in Tri are both in trouble..heh.

  • -barker-

    Posted Jun 15, 2008 4:19 pm GMT

    oblivion still looks better...

  • pidow

    Posted Jun 15, 2008 11:35 am GMT

    This is not good......I hope the people responsible, no longer is in a position to repeat the stupid move. Does the company need quality control personnel...I am available.

  • DataDream

    Posted Jun 15, 2008 11:32 am GMT

    Just to clarify - and I could see this coming...

    This IS NOT MAJESCO!!!

    It is Majestic - which is a completely different company.

    MAJESCO is a great company (albeit somewhat limited in releases at the moment) and I would hate to see them get a bad rap for something they had NOTHING to do with.

  • BDL91

    Posted Jun 15, 2008 5:55 am GMT

    hahaha lol they didnt even try to hide the plagerism it looks like oblivion set to minimum graphics

  • BDL91

    Posted Jun 15, 2008 5:54 am GMT

    hahaha lol they didnt even try to hide the plagerism it looks like oblivion set to minimum graphics

  • lozandier

    Posted Jun 14, 2008 8:54 pm GMT

    LOL!!! Who ever was managing 3d will have his career ruined before it started!

  • Jedilink109

    Posted Jun 14, 2008 4:07 pm GMT

    The books and test tubes, along with the freakin design on the rug hanging on the wall is EXACTLY THE SAME!!! How could they not have thought that this would bring trouble??

  • bybeach

    Posted Jun 14, 2008 11:53 am GMT

    i don`t know much about this kind of thing, but it strikes me that Tri-Synergy was the primary target of the rip-off, rather than Majesco actually thinking the game would be out there. Yes i know, it did have a severely limited release, Just a cap that majesco fooled the publisher, who was green and naively(sad,someone will suffer for it) ..trusting.

  • DJGecko

    Posted Jun 14, 2008 10:08 am GMT

    Yes they stole the Keeper library from Deadly Shadows for this game as well. I saw the screenshots on a Russian site (Google it if you want to see for yourself) and it is about 98% identical. What a shame. No wonder the developer is laying low right now.

  • Master-David

    Posted Jun 14, 2008 3:13 am GMT

    because it apparently contains some similarities with 'Thief: Deadly Shadows' somewhere.

  • insat

    Posted Jun 14, 2008 2:49 am GMT

    Q question:
    why is this article in the page of Theif-Deadly Shadows?
    it has nothing to do with it, right?

  • hellrazor707

    Posted Jun 13, 2008 9:53 pm GMT

    i kinda feel sorry for them; its a point and click adventure game for god's sake! what ever oblivion is one of my most favorite games they should burn for ripping them off.

  • Mor-GanX

    Posted Jun 13, 2008 4:38 pm GMT

    They rip-off the game, but make it with crappier graphics. Sounds like it'll be a real winner.

  • taj7575

    Posted Jun 13, 2008 4:16 pm GMT

    oooo I SMELL A LAWSUIT NEARBY....=) =) =)

  • salter

    Posted Jun 13, 2008 2:31 pm GMT

    Mawkie: The article doesn't state that Tri-Synergy is denying the plagiarism, in fact apparently Tri Synergy went so far as to draw the Gamespot reporter's attention to additional plagiarism from Thief. Tri Synergy is simply claiming that the plagiarism was on the part of Majestic Studios, the developer, and not Tri Synergy, the publisher. That strikes me as quite plausible, although perhaps an example of not the best due diligence on Tri Synergy's part.

  • SnackTime

    Posted Jun 13, 2008 2:21 pm GMT

    Weel it's free publicity for this game...

  • Darthnaevus

    Posted Jun 13, 2008 12:39 pm GMT

    Wow! I'm looking forward to play THESE games!

  • twolegsbad

    Posted Jun 13, 2008 11:59 am GMT

    wtf. did they really not think anyone would notice. steal environments from myst 4 or some other game nobody plays, not from one of the few games everyone in the world has played. they lifted environs from oblivion? did you seriously think nobody would notice?

  • theMasticator

    Posted Jun 13, 2008 11:38 am GMT

    Nuts.

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