Google cracks down as Swing Copters clones flood Play Store

Google has removed hundreds of Android clones of Swing Copters from the Play Store. The game was launched on Thursday but was beaten to the top spot by hundreds of cunning clones, looking to cash in on Dong Nguyen's previous success with viral sensation Flappy Bird and the presumed success of Swing Copters.

The sneaky apps carried devious names like  Swinging Copter, Swing Copters Game, Swing Copters Free, Copters Swing and Swing Copters 2. Some were released by developers named Dong's Entertainment and Nguyen Ha Dong, an apparent attempt to further confuse Android users looking for Nguyen's app. The clones forced the official version of Swing Copters down into 63rd position on the Google Play Store.

Although now Google's had a spring clean of its app store, Swing Copters will likely start racing to the top. “We remove applications that violate our policies, such as apps that are illegal or that promote hate speech,” said a Google spokesman in a statement sent to the Guardian.
The game has now been downloaded between 10,000 and 50,000 times according to the Android store’s download count.

Swing Copters was also launched on Apple's App Store on the same day, currently sitting in 7th place in the top free apps chart in the UK.

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