Dev Irate About 'Illegal' Use of Its Property As AI Rip Off of Xbox Game Appears on PS Store

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For a few brief minutes earlier today, one PS5 Trophy hunter thought they had uncovered evidence of a Microsoft Flight Simulator port. A new Trophy list was picked up by PSN Profiles for "Flight Simulator 2025", tricking those interested in the heavily rumoured Xbox port into believing the PS5 version is right around the corner.

It may still be, as reliable speculation points to the likes of Microsoft Flight Simulator, Halo, and Gears of War all making their way across to PS5 later this year. However, what this Trophy list turned out to be was yet another example of the copycat AI "Eslop" that has flooded the PS Store over the past few years.

Flight Simulator 2025 has a PS Store wishlist page that lists the developer as Grizzly Games Limited, but this does not actually appear to be true. In a statement to Eurogamer, Paul Schnepf, one of the two developers at Grizzly Games, said its name and logo were being used "illegally" as part of the listing.

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"Furthermore they seem to incorporate the absolute opposite of our values, of what we stand for and what we’re trying to give to the gaming community," Schnepf continued. "Unfortunately our legal resources are limited as a two-person indie team, but honestly I'd love to see this kind of stuff being stopped, especially since it's not only happening to us but lots of indie devs that just lack the legal power."




Left: The AI-made Flight Simulator 2025 art / Right: The actual Microsoft Flight Simulator box art
As such, it appears Flight Simulator 2025 has been uploaded to the PS Store by a firm using a different company's name. Eurogamer did some digging prior to receiving Schnepf's statement and found a Grizzly-Games.com website full of mobile phone games made using AI, with links to the Google Play Store that don't lead anywhere. It's possible the listing has come from there rather than the legitimate Grizzly Games, which made Thronefall for Nintendo Switch and PC.

Last month, it appeared Sony had cleaned up some of the AI-produced games on its digital store, but with Flight Simulator 2025 newly uploaded with AI artwork and from a company attempting to masquerade as someone else, it's clear the problem is still very much a thing.