SoulWorker NFT Scam: “Soul Reborn”

It’s bad enough that NFT’s are a thing, but when a group goes out of their way to impersonate an already existing entity, fake their social media profiles to seem more “legitimate,” all in an effort to promote their garbage NFT.. then you know there’s a problem.

Today, we’re talking about “Soul Reborn,” according to their Twitter they’re a “new pay to earn MMORPG game” that has stolen characters, artwork and gameplay from SoulWorker, an Anime MMO developed and published by Lion Games.
Now you might be thinking to yourself, “well, Stix, their Twitter looks pretty legit. 73,000 Twitter followers. An actual website. Their Twitter was even established all the way back in April 2009. That doesn’t seem like a scam to me.”
So before we delve into this any further, let me preface this by stating that this Twitter page, @SoulWorkerEN is the official SoulWorker Twitter. This is owned, this is operated by Lion Games.

On January 28th, Lion Games issued a public service announcement concerning Soul Reborn. It went on to read:
“[NOTICE] Unlicensed Illegal NFT related to Intellectual Property of SoulWorker
“Soul Reborn” is the game that currently steals the Intellectual Property of SoulWorker without permission. Please DO NOT sign up/promote the above mentioned site to prevent further damages.”
“Lion Games will take strong Legal Action and respond to those who take illegal advantage without mercy. Thank you.”

[NOTICE] Unlicensed Illegal NFT related to Intellectual Property of SoulWorker
“Soul Reborn” is the game that currently steals the Intellectual Property of SoulWorker without permission. Please DO NOT signing up/promoting the above mentioned site to prevent further damages

— Soulworker EN (@SoulworkerEN) January 28, 2022

The Soulworker TC Twitter page reached out to Soul Reborn via a reply to one of their Tweets, with a reply directly from Lion Games going on to state that “SoulWorker is an official product of Lion Games. All resources are illegally abused, and legal actions will be conducted regarding this unauthorized program.”
To which Soul Reborn laughably responded with “Hello, we have purchased the IP of Soul worker through legal channels and signed the documents. If you have any other comments, please contact us through your lawyer, we will now sue you for defamation through legal means.”

From Lion Games Official Comment here.

SoulWorker is an official product of Lion Games.
All resources are illegally abused, and legal actions will be conducted regarding this unauthorized program.

— Soulworker TC (@SoulworkerTC) January 28, 2022

At this juncture, people were confused. Once again, Soul Reborn has over 70,000 followers on their Twitter account, and the account in question is well over a decade old. How could it have existed for as long as it has without it being legitimate?
SoulWorker – the Anime MMO was first released in Japan on April 6th, 2016, with Hangame publishing the game. Smilegate published the game in Korea on January 18th, 2017. We didn’t receive the game in the West until February 26th 2018.
So why was a Twitter for the game created 6 years before the game released?
I decided I was going to scroll through the Soul Reborn Tweet history. Attempt to get a gauge of the kinds of Tweets they’ve been making over the last decade, however, their first Tweet originated on November 19th, 2021, and simply read “Soul Reborn.” A second Tweet was made 11 days later on November 30th, 2021.
They then proceeded to periodically introduce new characters they claim were “theirs” all the while hosting giveaways to promote their illegal NFTs.
But how does a Twitter, created in 2009, with over 70,000 followers just magically appear out of thin air? Honestly, quite easily.
Soul Reborn likely did one of two things.

1.) They purchased an already established Twitter account that was made back in 2009, changed the username, the information attached to the account, and used the community of followers as a basis with which to grow and market their NFT to.
2.) They purchased a Twitter account that was made back in 2009, and proceeded to purchase fake followers – as it is evident their followers don’t interact with their Tweets. 70,000 followers and 10-40 likes per Tweet? Unlikely.
This route would have allowed them to easily accumulate as many followers as they needed to give off the illusion that they were in fact a legitimate company, because “social media cred” is all that’s important in this day and age.
You have followers on Instagram? TikTok? Twitter? Then you’re a paragon of information and truth.

Regardless of which method Soul Reborn utilized, what they did was wrong. Immoral. They faked the stats on their accounts. Bought fake followers. All in an attempt to look more “legitimate” to potential players.

Going back to the Tweet from earlier by Soulworker TC, Soul Reborn are claiming that they obtained the rights to the entire SoulWorker intellectual property. Reproduction and distribution rights.
That they are planning on suing every person commenting on their page for defamation through legal means.
All the while going on to delete the Tweet that these comments were being left on to avoid additional exposure to their scam.
Notice how the Tweet is now “unavailable?” Yeah, that’s a cheap way of attempting to and failing to cover things up.
What baffles me the most about this – and I’m going to use the term “discussion” here as I feel generous. Is that they were reached out to by Lion Games personally.
They were reached out to by the official Soul Worker Steam page. They were reached out to by the SoulWorker art director himself. All claiming Soul Reborn had no rights to the properties they were attempting to sell and use to scam players – yet they are adamant they do.
They copy and paste the same legal threat repetitiously like it’s going to make the matter admissible.

From Lion Games Official Comment here.

SoulWorker is an official product of Lion Games.
All resources are illegally abused, What you are doing is swindle. And legal actions will be conducted regarding this unauthorized program

— ARMCHO (@armchobat) January 28, 2022

I’m genuinely shocked this is still somehow functional. That they’ve managed to get away with this for the last 2 months.
I understand the appeal of NFTs, I do. I don’t endorse nor will I ever engage in them personally, but seeing something like, an instance where a person or group of people can take the intellectual property from an existing entity like SoulWorker and Lion Games, fake their growth, fake their community and then get hosted, get advertised by accounts like NEXTYPE with hundreds of thousands of followers? I think I’m going to need a trash can to throw up in.
I am 100% in full support of SoulWorker and Lion Games. I understand realistically they’re not the largest company, and legal battles like this might be much more difficult for them if they have the capital to even engage in a drawn-out case.
But if Soul Reborn genuinely stole assets and are marketing their “pay to earn MMORPG” when they don’t have the legal rights to do so…. I hope they meet a swift, legal end.

Until then, all I can do is warn you all against using Soul Reborn. As per the official developers themselves: Soul Reborn is unlicensed, and 100% illegal.