California: Snake Escape Owner Sues, Says a Rival Copied Its Game and Used False DMCA Notices to Get It Pulled From Google Play

A Singapore studio has sued the publishers of a rival snake puzzle game in federal court in California. It says the rival copied its game, Snake Escape, and that the rival’s makers then sent false copyright notices that got Snake Escape pulled from Google Play.

Singapore-based Supergame filed the complaint on October 20 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The full name of the studio is Supergame Pte. Ltd. It names Stick Hunter FZE LLC of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, and Game District LLC, which does business as M S Game Notch and is based in Lahore, Pakistan, according to the filing.

The case number printed on the complaint is 5:26-cv-12225-VKD. CourtListener lists it as 3:26-cv-12225.

When Game Empress checked on November 2, Snake Escape’s Google Play page returned a “not found” error. An archived copy from August 6 shows the same listing, under publisher Pixel King Pte. Ltd., with 10 million-plus downloads and about 336,000 reviews. The complaint does not give Snake Escape’s download count, but says the rival game has passed 1 million.

What Supergame says was copied

In Snake Escape, players guide snakes out of grid mazes. Pixel King created it, released it on Google Play around October 22, 2025, and assigned the rights to Supergame that December, the complaint says. Pixel King remains its listed publisher on the App Store. The U.S. Copyright Office registered it to Supergame effective April 10, 2026.

Stick Hunter published the rival game on Google Play as Snake Out: Puzzle Escape, the complaint says; it was not on Stick Hunter’s developer page when Game Empress checked on November 2. On Apple’s App Store, the complaint says, the same game is sold as Snake’s Way Out, listed under developer Hassam Ahmad, who the complaint says works for Game District. Supergame says the game copies its level layouts, its cartoon snake design and its menus and buttons.

The complaint says the defendants could study Snake Escape after its October 2025 release, and that they later used a template called “Snake Escape Puzzle – 800 Levels and Level Editor,” which an unknown seller listed on the code marketplace Codester around December 10, 2025, about two weeks after Stick Hunter released Snake Out on November 28. Supergame calls it an unauthorized copy of its whole game and says the defendants used it to “substantially expand the levels” of theirs.

Exhibit B lines up 44 pairs of levels. Every match on the defendants’ side sits between their levels 184 and 250, matched to Snake Escape levels drawn from 2 to 110. The colors differ, with a dark neon look against Snake Escape’s pale one, but Supergame says the grids are identical or highly similar and the intended solutions are identical.

A first fight that looked finished

This is the second round. On March 31, 2026, Pixel King filed a copyright complaint with Google for Supergame, and Google said the next day it was removing Snake Out worldwide, according to the complaint.

On April 3, Google told Pixel King that Stick Hunter had filed a counter-notice citing a license from the Codester template. Codester confirmed on April 8 that it had pulled the template, a day after Supergame’s own takedown notice.

Supergame also sued Stick Hunter in Singapore’s High Court (HC/OC 490/2026), the complaint says. The complaint says the dispute was resolved and Supergame dismissed that case around July, without describing any terms. Then, it says, Stick Hunter put Snake Out back on Google Play around September.

The October 14 notices behind the Snake Escape lawsuit

According to the complaint, on October 14 Stick Hunter sent a takedown notice to Google and Game District sent one to Apple, each claiming Snake Escape infringed the defendants’ game. Google then removed Snake Escape, and it was still gone when Supergame sued six days later, the complaint says. Apple had not removed it when the suit was filed, and it was still on the App Store on November 2.

In its notice to Apple, Game District said its rights were “supported by official copyright documentation in both Pakistan and the United States” and that it had obtained a restraining order from an intellectual property tribunal in Lahore, according to the complaint. Supergame says it never received the order or any of those documents, and could find no U.S. registration for the defendants’ game.

A Game Empress search of the Copyright Office’s public catalog on November 2 found Supergame’s registration but nothing under either rival title, Stick Hunter, M S Game Notch or Hassam Ahmad.

Two other works, registered in 2024 and 2025 as computer files, name a claimant called Game District LLC; the records do not say whether it is the company being sued. Pending applications do not appear.

Why a takedown notice can cost the sender

A DMCA takedown notice is how a rights holder asks a platform like Google Play to remove a copy of its work. Platforms have a reason to move fast: the law shields them when they remove material promptly after a proper notice. Such notices are common; GitHub alone has published more than 150 takedown notices dated in the first half of October.

The sender can be held liable, but only for a knowing misrepresentation. Each notice must state a good-faith belief that the use is unauthorized. Under Section 512(f) of the copyright law, anyone who knowingly and materially misrepresents that something infringes is liable for the damages caused when a platform relies on that claim, including costs and attorneys’ fees.

That is Supergame’s second claim. It says the defendants could not have believed in good faith that Snake Escape, which came out first, infringed their game. It adds that Stick Hunter’s April counter-notice accepted this court’s jurisdiction.

What Supergame wants

Beyond the 512(f) claim, Supergame sues for copyright infringement and asks for a ruling that Snake Escape infringes no U.S. copyright of either defendant. It wants the October 14 notices withdrawn, the rival games pulled from all app stores, a ban on new notices against Snake Escape, damages, fees and a jury trial.

Theresa A. Kristovich and Connie K. Chang of Kabat Chapman & Ozmer LLP represent Supergame. The case is assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Virginia K. DeMarchi in San Jose.

These are Supergame’s allegations. As of November 2, the docket as mirrored by CourtListener, last updated October 29, showed no filing by either defendant. The court issued summonses on October 23. Under federal rules, a defendant generally has 21 days after formal service to respond, or 90 days if a defendant outside the U.S. agrees to waive formal service. Game Empress did not contact either side. Other open cases are in our gaming law tracker.

Where the games stood on November 2

The complaint says, on information and belief, that the two defendants operate as one business or act in concert. The stores show overlap: several games on stick hunter’s Google Play page share names with Hassam Ahmad’s App Store games, including Mini Kitchen Set: Cooking Game and ASMR Makeover: Skincare Games. Listings alone do not show who owns each account.

Featured image: a maze level from Snake Escape, from the game’s App Store listing. Image: Pixel King Pte. Ltd. / App Store.

Update, Nov. 3: This article was revised to attribute more statements to the complaint and to clarify the timeline, the copyright records and the response deadlines.

Featured image: a maze level from Snake Escape, from the game’s App Store listing. Image: Pixel King Pte. Ltd. / App Store.

Update, Nov. 3: This article was revised to attribute more statements to the complaint and to clarify the timeline, the copyright records and the response deadlines.