"Only Ads Appear After Launch"…Warning Against Apps Impersonating the Game 'Dave'

Impersonating PC-Only Games on Play Store
Seemingly Aiming for Ad Revenue... Beware of Personal Data Theft

Recently, Nexon’s new game "Dave the Diver (Dave)" has gained worldwide popularity, leading to a surge in impersonation apps, prompting users to exercise caution.

A fake app impersonating 'Dave the Diver' released on Google Play Store. Downloaded over 1,000 times.
[Photo by Google Play Store capture]

As of the 20th, the Google Play Store features mobile apps with similar names such as "Dave the Diver Swimming Game," "Dave the Diver Game," and "Dave the Diver 2D Mobile." All of these are impersonation apps unrelated to Nexon.

Nexon released "Dave" on Steam, the world’s largest PC gaming platform. Currently, the game is only available on PC, and there are no plans to release a mobile version at this time.

These impersonation apps all use actual images from "Dave." Without prior knowledge of "Dave," users might mistakenly believe these are official versions released by Nexon. The impersonation app "Dave the Diver Game" was released on the 8th of this month and has been downloaded over 1,000 times so far.

Users who were deceived by earlier impersonation apps and installed them left reviews such as "Only ads play, but the game never starts," and "The app closes after showing ads." Although some of these impersonation apps have been removed, new ones continue to appear.

Moreover, there is a concern that users’ personal information could be exposed. Since these impersonation apps are created for advertising revenue, there is a high possibility that they collect personal information without consent.

In fact, numerous malicious apps equipped with code that bypasses security systems and steals personal information without authorization have been found on the Google Play Store over time.

Google is aware of these issues and removes such apps, but impersonation apps continue to flood the platform.

Downloading these impersonation apps can expose users to cybercrimes such as financial fraud, phishing link distribution, fake news propagation, and account compromise, so caution is necessary.

Image of 'Dave the Diver,' released on June 28 under Nexon's Mintrocket Studio on the PC game platform Steam. [Photo by Nexon]

Meanwhile, Mintrocket Studio, a subsidiary of Nexon, released "Dave" on Steam on June 28. The game’s unique underwater exploration gameplay earned it the top spot in global sales among paid games on Steam within just one day of release.

It has received approximately 37,000 "Overwhelmingly Positive" reviews, and concurrent player counts have exceeded 98,000, setting new records.