Adobe is coming after indie game emulator Delta for copying its logo

After Apple relaxed App Store guidelines to allow game emulators, retro game emulator Delta – an app that has been in the works for a decade – topped the App Store charts. But the increased attention also brought the threat of legal action, as Adobe targeted Delta for sporting a logo too similar to its own.

Delta’s game emulator was built by developer Riley Testut, who had started his experiments in this area by figuring out how to load games on graphing calculators before turning to iOS. The app itself evolved from Testut’s older app, GBA4iOS, which took advantage of a loophole to run emulated games on iOS without jailbreaking an iPhone. Consumer demand for such an app was high, with millions of people using GBA4iOS as long as it was available. But Apple eventually shut things down and put GBA4iOS out of business.

As Apple faces regulatory pressure to open its App Store to more competition, the tech giant began allowing game emulators in April. That has opened up a whole new market for developers who previously couldn’t take advantage of the enormous distribution power that the App Store brings. In short, Apple would rather host these apps itself than have to compete with alternative app stores where the apps it once banned could find traction with consumers.

Testut took the opportunity to launch Delta to the public and it quickly became the No. 1 app on the App Store, ranking first on Apple’s charts for weeks and racking up millions of downloads. More than a month later, Delta is still sitting pretty high at 33rd on the US App Store. Slot No. 5 is now owned by yet another game emulator, PPSSPP (a PSP emulator).

However, becoming the top app on the App Store has its drawbacks. While a more under-the-radar app like GBA4iOS may have been ignored, Delta’s ride to No. 1 has led to more attention.

According to a message about MastodonAdobe came after Delta and threatened legal action because it felt Delta’s logo looked similar to its own.

“Adobe is threatening legal action because they think our logos are too similar – so we changed it,” the post said. “This new icon is an inspired design from Caroline Moore (@carolinemoore@threads.net), we hope you love it as much as we do,” it said.

Both logos featured a broken triangle, similar to the Greek letter delta. However, Adobe’s logo is red and white, and the “A” is thicker and extends to the edge of the app icon. Delta’s logo is purple and white, smaller and centered in the app icon. Of course, they also operate in different spaces, as Adobe offers a range of tools for creatives, not a way to play retro games. It’s hard to argue that there would be much confusion among consumers as to which logo was which.

Delta told us that it first received an email from Adobe’s attorney on Wednesday, May 7, telling the company that the app icon was infringing on Adobe’s “A” log and requesting that it be changed to not to violate “Adobe’s rights or the law.”

Adobe gave Delta until May 17 to respond, but then received a second email from Apple stating that Adobe had asked Apple to remove the Delta app due to trademark infringement. Delta replied to both companies to explain that the icon was a stylized Greek letter delta, and not “A,” but that the logo would be updated anyway.

To avoid potential legal problems, Delta has launched a new logo that resembles a broken triangle. The redesign is unfortunately not as simplified and sleek as before, leading some users to suggest it could have gone a different route – such as using the small delta letter, for example, or have custom artwork created as the new brand.

Testut tells us the new app has a temporary logo on the icon, but he plans to update this again when Delta 1.6 rolls out.

“…We plan to update the icon again soon to a ‘final’ version – also designed by Caroline –,” he said, adding “we’re not too concerned about the impact of it in the meantime brand.”