Game developers who enforce their copyrights are threatened
A developer who exhibited a homemade game at a gaming event complained that after he forced the organizers to remove the game, he was disqualified from the awards he had won and was even asked to return the prize money. However, it turns out there is a difference of opinion between the developer and the organizers on this matter.
When Exercising Copyrights Puts a Gamedev Under Threat (My Take on GBCOMPO 25) - Zoryad by allalonegamez
The complaint was filed by game developer allalonegamez. allalonegamez had participated in the Game Boy new game review contest held on the game streaming platform itch.io twice, in 2023 and 2025, and won in 2023. The contest rules clearly stated that submitted games would be published on the 'organizer's platform,' and that developers were free to continue developing and commercialize their games after the contest ended. The games allalonegamez developed and entered were subsequently published on Homebrew Hub (gbdev.io), owned by Antonio Vivace, one of the contest organizers.
Several months after the 2025 contest, allalonegamez requested that his game be removed from gbdev.io. It appears that allalonegamez was unhappy that his game was uploaded to gbdev.io, a different platform, rather than itch.io. He also stated that he was simply exercising his rights because gbdev.io contained a disclaimer that stated, 'Any developer of a published game may request its removal for any reason.' He also noted that the contest rules 'do not obligate organizers to keep their games available indefinitely, do not grant organizers a perpetual right to publish their games, and do not state that removing a game from a 'third-party platform' is a violation.'
As a result, the organizers have demanded that allalonegamez's 2023 prize be revoked and that the prize money be returned. Because the contest was funded by a major publisher, the cancellation of his prize could have an adverse effect on his career as a game developer. Allalonegamez filed a lawsuit, arguing that this was an excessive measure, considering that he was merely exercising his copyright.
However, a person named asie countered this opinion, suggesting that allalonegamez may have had a misunderstanding. The person who countered said that although he was not the organizer of the contest, he had received personal advice from the organizers and had proposed the return of the prize money and the cancellation of the awards.
First, regarding the fact that the game was uploaded to a third-party platform, allalonegamez apparently believed that the game would only be published on itch.io, but there was no mention of this limitation. In fact, the contest rules were listed on gbdev.io, not itch.io, and the game was published on a website hosted by gbdev.io. Therefore, asie argues, it is correct to believe that the game was not published on a third-party platform, but rather was officially published on the relevant platform.
In addition, allalonegamez claims that he 'followed the rules and made it available for free during the contest period,' but there is no mention in the rules that 'publication must be limited to the contest period.'
Asie said, 'In the community where the organizers have nurtured traditions, redistribution of works is considered a kind of custom. I think it's unfair to turn your back on the community while benefiting from its efforts, including financially. That's your right, and you're right to say so, but at the same time, you need to recognize that you are erasing your own connection to the community. Either way, I consider this a violation of the social contract of the contest.'
He added, 'After receiving extensive feedback, I now believe it was my mistake to suggest escalating to the point of returning the winnings. Had I not made that request, some of this situation may have been avoided.'
However, asie's opinion was countered by the following: 'There are many creators who are comfortable licensing their work as shareware, but that doesn't mean everyone has to. If contest organizers truly recognize that creators may want to commercialize their work, they shouldn't stand in the way of creators wanting to do so.'
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