Yikes! Nintendo Is Facing Harsh Criticism After a One Piece Ripoff Made Its Way Online and Yeah, It’s Bad

Nintendo is normally very quick about striking down copycats when it comes to the company’s own franchise, but while it’s busy on the scent of another hunt, there are blatant rip-offs of popular anime games circulating in Nintendo’s shop. The latest target is none other than One Piece, featuring pirates that definitely bear a striking resemblance to the art style Eiichiro Oda and Toei Animations have solidified for the treasure-seeking anime. What’s all the more amusing is that much of the art provided in the game is almost certainly made by AI.

Pirate Anime Quest: One Boys’ Journey, A Piece of Island Love officially released on May 29, debuting a slew of rough-and-tough pirates whose hearts can be conquered if players manage to combine mythical fruits and formulate a bond at the same time. Published by Red Fables, there are two versions for One Piece fans, one featuring an all-male cast and the other, an all-female cast. The game is originally $14.99, but upon debut, it is undergoing a sale until June 19, at the affordable price of $5.96. That is, if it can remain in the store long enough.

How Did Nintendo Allow This One Piece Rip-off Game Into the Shop

Japanese Consumers Immediately Pointed Out the Game’s Use of AI

According to Anime News Network, Pirate Anime Quest: One Boys’ Journey, A Piece of Island Love has sadly already been taken off of Japan’s Nintendo Shop. Sales have already been halted, and promotion of the game on the website will gradually fade out in due time. However, as of this writing, it would still appear that American consumers could check out the game if they wanted to while the sale is live.

While Nintendo never listed out the reason as to why the game was taken down from Japan’s Nintendo Shop, it would appear that the game could have been using generative AI to create its backgrounds, characters, and assets without Red Fables outright disclosing the use of this technology. Given that the internet was already rife with Studio Ghibli AI recreations, it wouldn’t be a stretch to presume that the same thing occurred with Pirate Anime Quest’s rip-off of One Piece’s current acclaim.

Upon closer inspection of the characters, they do share tell-tale signs of AI through the nonsensical details that make themselves more apparent the longer you look. The skull and crossbones don’t entirely make sense or align with any of the Jolly Roger’s in One Piece, hair often loops back into itself or glitches through a character’s clothing, and finer aspects of the clothing such as belts, buttons, scars, tattoos, and insignia, either don’t match up or change entirely.

And One Piece’s Rip-off Game Nearly Got Away With It Too

An Interesting Premise That Could Have Succeeded, but Not in Japan

It’s not abnormal to see games pop up in Nintendo’s Shop, Google Play, or Apple Arcade that are very clearly stealing the IP of another franchise, normally one that’s most popular at that current time. Enigma of Sépia debuted back in February 2025 and continues to update to this day, despite featuring characters that are alternative genders of familiar shōnen protagonists. Though fans of the game haven’t ever disputed whether the publisher, Unicorn Whale Technology Limited, used AI in the creation of its cast.

Nintendo nearly missed the two Pirate Anime Quest games, but consumers over in Japan were quick to pick up on the scheme happening within a company that’s normally very stringent on copyright infringement. Even if the only reason hinted at so far was due to the use of AI. Whether it’s for a puzzle game, a romance otome, or an RPG later down the line, Pirate Anime Quest’s rip-off of One Piece isn’t the first of its kind, nor is it likely to be the last.