GTA Copy Paradise is an alleged crypto scam but continues to get Steam wishlists.

An upcoming life sim that claims to be competitive The Great Theft Head VI While the game is no longer used as a vehicle for the dodgy cryptocurrency, it continues to generate followers and wishlists on Steam. Paradise is sold as a third-person game set in a modern city of the sun, where you can talk to any NPC using a microphone on the street and get responses powered by artificial intelligence. You’re supposed to drive sports cars, shoot guns at people, and collect in-game money. But the more outlandish claims drew swift scrutiny from video creators who found countless inconsistencies in the marketing material. The game has been removed from the Epic Games Store for allegedly violating several of the store’s rules. But it’s still steaming, and somehow it’s slowly creeping up the wishlist ladder in violation of several red flags.

Even on the surface, Heaven looks like A. Grand Theft Auto online A simulator with more AI goop – not particularly appealing when placed next to Rockstar’s high-quality, “handmade” cityscapes. Here’s an early trailer for the game:

As you can see, it’s very much “We’ve got Los Santos at home”. Many elements are similar to those found in GTA V, including the minimap, map text, and beach umbrellas. GTA VI trailer. The company even copied the music and slogan A fan made trailer for the now defunct GTA role playing serverHe himself was called “Paradise Role Playing”.

The big takeaway is at 1:20, when the narrator announces that the player character walks into a bank and says, “You get money and cryptocurrency.” Subsequent trailers have minimized the crypto element and the same trailer On the steam It was edited to exclude that particular term, presumably to comply with Valve’s rules regarding trading cryptocurrency. The company behind Paradise, Ultra Games, claim that they no longer want to send cryptocurrency in mind but, as we can see, the game itself doesn’t seem too concerned.

Last month, various YouTubers brought these concerns Including the fact that early trailers for the game featured unlicensed Lamborghinis. Best of all, Paradise promises to interact with AI versions of popular influencers like Pokimane and Fortnite streamer Lachlan Power, among many others. However, none of those big-time streamers have said anything about the game on their official channels. The trailer that promised AI cameos for these influencers is still showing up on Steam, but the game’s website now admits that some high-profile streams will not appear, saying that “not all contracts have been completed within the expected time frame.”

Some of the accusations made by YouTubers felt overzealous. For example, buying and using assets from Unreal’s store is not a crime. But considering the many other signs of Crypto-dirt, you don’t even need to point to cheap assets as proof of suspicious activity. Heaven has more of a smoking gun than the shooting range at West Point.

Surprisingly, later investigations by YouTube “Jethro” said that it was not in Hong Kong, as the company stated on its website, but was practicing. A Russian sponsored “pump and dump” scam Centered around an app that allows you to buy the game’s currency – PAR tokens – before release. Jethro says the game’s Steam listing uses kernel-level anti-cheat, which it warns “gives the developers complete access to everything on your PC.” “For this reason, I do not recommend downloading this game at any time.”

Despite all this, the game is still gaining followers on Steam. Paradise had 20,000 followers a month ago game-stats.comThis has reached over 30,000 followers. To put this into perspective, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth At the time of publication, it has 27,000 followers Mafia: The Old Country It has around 40,000. It’s enough to land Paradise on the stats site’s top ten “upcoming games” list.

At a conservative estimate, these follower numbers can translate to around 150,000 wish lists or more (I’m using an estimate). The information on Game Discoverer will be broken. for that). True, there’s no less accounting for statistical shenanigans and bots, sockpuppets, and other fake wish lists. But still, the fact that such a blatantly sketchy game is growing at the level of regulation on Steam and being widely circulated on social media should be a concern.

I asked Valve if they have existing concerns about the game and whether it should be allowed on the store. Meanwhile, Epic Games seems to have removed the game from sale, now its the store page. Redirecting to 404 not found.

As for the creators of the unreleased game, they are posted Long and defensive questions On their website they more or less frequently say “We’re not doing anything illegal, we promise!” GTA-like’s FAQ like “What kind of gun do I get?” You can expect it to include things like: or “How many jet skis can I own?” But for heaven’s sake we get an answer: “Where is your company’s registered legal address?” And “Are there specialists from other countries, including Russia, in your team?” These are questions that a player should never ask, never over and over.