The Walking Dead Mobile Game Has Been Accused Of Stealing 'Resident Evil Artwork'

The worlds of Resident Evil and The Walking Dead are shuffling closer together, as a game based on Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard's comic caper is accused of ripping off Capcom's shooter series. Even though The Walking Dead and Resident Evil focus on the human race trying to survive a zombie outbreak, TWD doesn't have all the tentacled monsters and sexy vampires that have made the Resiverse much more than a zombie franchise. 

Resident Evil has been blasting its way into our lives with video games since 1996, while The Walking Dead is much newer to the scene.

Away from Telltale's episodic The Walking Dead, there's been the Pokemon GO-inspired The Walking Dead: Our World, and the recent release of a new mobile strategy game in the form of The Walking Dead: Survivors. 

How is The Walking Dead accused of stealing Resident Evil artwork?

The situation came to light when fans on Instagram shared artwork from The Walking Dead: Survivors and spotted the similarities between the ad and the box art from 2019's Resident Evil 2 remake. More than just a case of mistaken identity, it literally looks like Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield have been swapped out for two of Survivors' characters.

If you look at the background of Skybound's artwork, it looks identical to Capcom's cover for the game. Elsewhere, some noted that Claire's pistol from the 2019 title still seems to be visible. Although Survivors has pulled the ad, it's unclear whether the comparisons had anything to do with it.

Did Capcom pull The Walking Dead: Survivors advert?

This looked like a botched Photoshop job - leading some to think it was a fake. However, some sleuthing can trace the campaign back to a Facebook page that confirms it's the real deal. Things took a bizarre turn when someone messaged the game's social accounts asking for a statement about the artwork. By the sounds of it, those behind Survivors aren't that bothered. As highlighted on Reddit, the Survivors account said there's "no breach of copyright" because Leon and Claire don't appear in the promo artwork. 

Whether Capcom took the case further - or whether there are grounds to go further - let's remember that Resident Evil also found itself in a similar situation. Designer Judy A. Juracek has launched a court case and is trying to sue Capcom over Resident Evil 4 and Devil May Cry for potentially using textures from her book.

Elsewhere, one director alleges Resident Evil Village stole his monster designs for the propellor-headed Sturm. Capcom doesn't exactly have an untarnished track record with this kind of thing, but still, we think it's baffling that someone working on The Walking Dead: Survivors could've knowingly tried to rip off such an iconic piece of Resident Evil artwork.