Imagine, if you will, a company that lives on the philosophy of creating movies that heavily imitate current feature films for the sole purpose of getting a quick buck.
Now apply that philosophy to making games for mobile phones, iOS, and Android, except with a lot more effort put into it.note
Thus you have Gameloft S.A., a developer of portable titles that are playable and graphically polished but not quite perfect reproductions of titles such as Halo, Final Fantasy XIII, Burnout, Diablo, and many others. They are an offshoot of French megadeveloper Ubisoft (the two companies' founders are brothers), and thus are also responsible for creating portable versions of Ubisoft's franchises, such as Assassin's Creed and Rayman 2. Some of their games are even licensed titles in their own right. Their Mario Kart clone, for example, stars the cast of the Shrek movies, one of their Temple Run clones, has the Minions, and their copy of the Batman: Arkham Asylum series is a tie-in for The Dark Knight Rises. They've also partnered with Hasbro to make Littlest Pet Shop and My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic games.
This formula has made Gameloft one of the most successful mobile developers, but the message Gameloft's success sends makes them one of the most controversial. To console and PC developers, it says that gamers want mobile versions of all these games, and if Gameloft doesn't provide them, someone else will. To other mobile developers, it says that you can be successful simply by copying someone else's idea and doing a half-decent job of it. The actual quality of their games is similarly mixed, characterized by high production values for iOS Games but weak voice acting and story, and slightly outdated gameplay mechanics.
Considering that many of the games they rip off of are nowhere to be found on iOS devices (with some exceptions; Grand Theft Auto III, for one, has been released on the iOS and Android), Gameloft is in fact one of the few companies that is making the iPod a competitive gaming device. They also freely admit to copying other games, defending themselves by pointing out the lack of originality in the rest of the game industry.
Given that the company itself was established by one of the Guillemot brothers, it wouldn't be surprising for Gameloft to come up with a portable remake of a popular Ubisoft title, albeit usually with an altered storyline and gameplay - for example, the mobile Splinter Cell games differed significantly from their home console and PC counterparts, although the basic premise remains the same. They appear to have done away with producing mobile versions of Ubisoft properties starting in the early 2010s, however, as games starting from Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag no longer have mobile counterparts, with Ubisoft themselves developing companion apps and/or portable spinoffs based on their games.
They are now moving into downloadable console titles, publishing games like Dungeon Hunter Alliance and Modern Combat for the PlayStation 3, as well as Let's Golf 3D for the Nintendo 3DS. They have also developed a few licensed games away from their mockbuster games like Lego Legacy: Heroes Unboxed.
Their monthly Gameloft Video Podcast can be found on their YouTube page.
A wiki for the Gangstar series can also be found here.
Mockbuster games by Gameloft:
| Gameloft Title | Inspiration |
| Eternal Legacy | "Our favorite JRPGs" (most of the plot and game mechanics are modeled on Final Fantasy XIII) Also is somewhat similar to Chaos Rings, if only because of platform. |
| Dungeon Hunter | Diablo, Torchlight |
| Blades of Fury | SoulCalibur |
| Gang$tar and Driver: Speedboat Paradise | Grand Theft Auto, in both Vice City and San Andreas varieties. The 3rd iOS game in the series is subtitled "City of Saints". |
| Guitar Rock Tour | Guitar Hero |
| N.O.V.A.note | Halo, Dead Space, The Conduit |
| Modern Combat | Modern Warfare, HomeFront, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and so on |
| Brothers in Arms Global Front and Sons of War | Call of Duty: World at War |
| Hero of Sparta | God of War |
| Real Football | Pro Evolution Soccer |
| Sacred Odyssey | Zelda and Fable |
| Shadow Guardian | Uncharted |
| Soul of Darkness and Wild Blood | The first one is a Metroidvania, and the second one a Dark Souls rip-off |
| Zombie Infection | Resident Evil, Left 4 Dead |
| GT Racing and Asphalt | Gran Turismo, Burnout, Need for Speed, Ridge Racer |
| Brain Challenge | Brain Age |
| Star Front: Collision | Starcraft |
| Rise of Lost Empires | Warcraft |
| Cannon Rats | Angry Birds |
| Ice Age Village | The Smurfs Village |
| Crystal Monsters | Pokémon |
| Order & Chaos | World of Warcraftnote |
| Backstab | Assassin's Creed's gameplay with the plot of Sharpe |
| 9mm | Max Payne, True Crime and Dead to Rights |
| Silent Ops | Splinter Cell, though they also made mobile versions of Splinter Cell for Ubi. |
| Six Guns | Red Dead Redemption, Undead Nightmares to be specific |
| Heroes of Order & Chaos | League of Legendsnote |
| Diamond Twister | Bejeweled |
| Block Breaker Deluxe | Breakout |
| Shrek Kart | Mario Kart |
| The Dark Knight Rises | Batman: Arkham Asylum / Arkham Citynote |
| Men in Black 3 | XCOM |
| Gameloft Live standalone app | Xbox Live |
| Littlest Pet Shop | The Simpsons: Tapped Out |
| My Little Pony | The Simpsons: Tapped Out |
| Iron Man 3 | Temple Run |
| Spider-Man Unlimited | Temple Run |
| Despicable Me Minion Rush | Temple Run and Subway Surfers |
| Blitz Brigade | Team Fortress 2 |
| Castle of Magic | This one is a bit unique: Rather than copy any one game, it instead borrows directly from a large number of classic 8- and 16-bit platformers. |
| Shark Dash | Cut the Rope |
| Pastry Paradise | Candy Crush Saga |
| Cars: Fast as Lightning | Clash of Clans |
| Siegefall | Clash of Clans |
| Disney Magic Kingdoms | The Simpsons: Tapped Out and Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff |
| Disney Princess Magestic Quest | Candy Crush Saga |
| Disney Getaway Blast | Angry Birds POP! |
