Microsoft Withdraws Copyright Claim Against Indie Dev Over Minecraft Allegations

After a quick back-and-forth this week, Microsoft has withdrawn a copyright claim it filed against developer Unomelon for Allumeria–a game that the company initially claimed had infringed on Minecraft’s IP.

Unomelon shared news of this update in a Discord post on February 11, according to PC Gamer. In the post, the team confirmed that the DMCA takedown was removed, which then restored Allumeria’s Steam store page, too.

“Microsoft has withdrawn the copyright claim with no action needed on my part,” Unomelon said. “This is the best-case scenario. I just woke up from a nap, so I am still not sure about the details, but whatever happened, it worked. The Steam page and game [have] been fully restored, and I did not need to file a counterclaim, meaning there will be no chance of a lawsuit!”

According to GamesIndustry.Biz, Unomelon shared email correspondence proving that Microsoft had actually rescinded its copyright claim against it. Another post in the developer’s Discord seems to suggest that the DMCA strike might have been automated, but regardless, Unomelon appears thrilled with the news.

“My hope is that automated claims like this are investigated or prevented in the future,” Unomelon said. “DMCA claims can do serious damage to independent creators like myself. Whether on YouTube or Steam. I hope things can change, and I hope this situation fills other block game developers with hope.”

This comes a day after Unomelon posted on Bluesky about Allumeria’s removal due to the copyright claim. On February 10, the team said it received an email from Microsoft stating that a screenshot of the game “infringed on [the company’s] copyright.” According to PC Gamer, Unomelon shared a snippet of an email Valve sent the team regarding Allumeria’s sudden Steam removal. In the email, someone named Judith Woodward represented Microsoft as the company alleged that it “found that [Unomelon’s] use of Minecraft content, including but not limited to gameplay and assets, without their authorization infringes their rights.”

Revealed last year, Allumeria is an action-building sim that’s a cross between Minecraft and Terraria. While that may be true, it certainly looks more like the former than it does the latter, particularly with its blocky artstyle, Mojangles-looking font, and simplified UI. You’d be forgiven for mistaking Allumeria for Minecraft. The two games are basically identical twins separated at birth.

Allumeria doesn’t have a firm release date outside of a vague “2026” window, but there is a demo available on Steam if you’re curious what not-Minecraft plays like.

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