A fake website is impersonating my game
Move fast and in parallel - these sites exist to catch a campaign window (a launch, a sale, a playtest wave), and every day up is players harmed under your name.
1. Capture evidence first
Screenshot the site with its URL and date. Note where players encountered it (DMs, comments, ads). Copies change or vanish after the first report, and the evidence supports everything after.
2. Report the infrastructure - in parallel, not in sequence
- Host abuse desk - find the host via ICANN lookup; report the page as impersonating your game with unauthorized use of your title and artwork. Deceptive download pages violate every acceptable-use policy; hosts act on developer-of-record reports quickly.
- Google Safe Browsing - report the page so browsers warn later visitors even before takedown lands. This is the single highest-leverage step per minute spent.
- Registrar - same ICANN lookup; fresh domains used for deceptive downloads get suspended at the registrar level.
- DMCA for the art - your capsule art, screenshots, and store description are your copyrighted works; a standard takedown notice to the site or its host removes the assets even when the site argues about everything else.
3. Tell your players once, calmly
One pinned post: "the only official pages for [game] are [links]; anything else is not us." Ask players who found the site to report it too - Safe Browsing weighs multiple reports.
Common questions
Q: The site is on a bulletproof offshore host that ignores reports. Now what?
A: Safe Browsing flagging plus registrar suspension usually neutralizes it anyway - the page can stay up and still reach almost nobody through a warning interstitial.
Q: Should I name the site publicly to warn people?
A: Warn by naming your OFFICIAL pages, not the clone - publicity gives lure domains search traffic they otherwise never get.
Q: How do I find these sites before players do?
A: Lure domains register days before campaigns launch. A free scan checks fresh domains, known clone hosts, and recent security scans for your title now; daily monitoring watches the certificate stream continuously.
Check your own game now. The free scan looks for lookalike pages using your title, art, or description - no account, private report. Continuous monitoring: Game Title Watch from $9/month.
Related answers
- Indie game impersonation monitoring - what it is and who needs it
- Is this game download link safe to click?
- My game's art is on a suspicious site
Game Title Watch provides monitoring assistance, not legal advice. Findings are similarity signals that require your confirmation - they are not accusations about any website. Where an external service has flagged a page, we cite that flag; we never make such claims ourselves.