Real Fake Licensed Games

Submission 3,422

Part of a series on Gimmick Accounts. [View Related Entries]

About

Real Fake Licensed Games is a gimmick Twitter account that posts covers for non-existent licensed video games based on popular media that have never been adopted in video game format. Launched in March 2022, the account shared multiple covers that would later go viral, helping ignite the interest in the practice of creating fake video game covers.

History

The practice of creating fake video game cover art existed long prior to the launch of the gimmick account and has been a very popular genre of fan art and memes since the 2000s (examples shown below).

On March 16th, 2022, the gimmick Twitter^[1] account Real Fake Licensed Games (@realfakegames), ran by Twitter user @smudgebap, became active, posting fake cover art for video games based on media that had never been adapted in video game format. On that day, the account tweeted^[2]^[3]^[4] its first three fake video game covers based on Turning Red, Columbo and Breaking Bad which received over 1,100 likes, 1,600 likes and 2,300 likes, respectively (shown below).

In the following months, the account posted multiple fake video game covers that went viral on Twitter. For example, on March 20th, the account posted^[5] a fake vidoe game cover for American Psycho that received over 10,300 retweets and 119,000 likes in two months (shown below, left). On April 4th, @realfakegames tweeted^[6] a cover for fake Nintendo DS game Oreo: Cookie Crumblers that gained over 600 retweets and 9,800 likes in two months. On May 20th, the account shared^[7] a crossover meme combining Better Call Saul and Ace Attorney video games that accumulated over 9,900 retweets and 84,100 likes (shown below, right).

Features

Real Fake Licensed Games shared fan-made cover art for fake video games based on various existing media. The accounts posts both original art and user submissions.

Highlights

The fake cover art for American Psycho shared by the account in March 2022 inspired further fan labor shared by other users. For example, on March 22nd, Twitter^[8] user @MayoSayo_ posted a video in which he reviewed the "game." The video received over 21,000 views in two months (shown below).

On May 25th, 2022, Real Faked Licensed Games,^[9] along with other accounts,^[10]^[11]^[12] posted fake video game covers for a game based on the 2022 film Morbius, at that time a major meme online (Real Faked Licensed Games version shown below, left).