Chinese MMO Caught with Hand in Cookie Jar of WoW, Ragnarok Online, Others

If you can't beat them, be them, apparently. Browser-based MMORPG Aurora Blade is now clutching for driftwood at the center of a whirlpool of controversy after allegedly stealing art assets from MMOs like World of Warcraft, Ragnarok Online, Maple Story, and LaTale. IGG (the game's Western publisher) posted a statement/threat concerning the mess:

"Note: We would like to explain that SkyUnion(IGG) is not responsible for the developing of the game, that is any character, artwork and graphic is developed by another company and this game is HOSTED by IGG."

"Any thread or post [on the Aurora Blade forums] containing information about other games that including screenshots, game info or any other information will be deleted, as its against the forum rules. We will also take actions against members that will repeat breaking the forum rules.Therefore we have to ban members according to the severity. This may lead to a permanent ban from the forum."

See? Nothing to hide.

Also, we totally didn't nab the above comparison pic from Shacknews, and we're never thanking them. Seriously, though. If you tell anyone about that pic, we'll cut you.