Popular Emulator Changes Logo After Adobe Sends Legal Threat
The people behind the immensely popular iOS retro game emulator, Delta, have been forced to quickly change the appâs logo after receiving legal threats from Adobe and warnings from Apple.
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On April 7, Apple changed its app store rules and began allowing retro video game emulators onto its digital storefront. Within just a few days, some of the most popular apps on the App Store were emulators. One of those new apps shooting up the charts is the multi-console emulator Delta, which has a decade-long history. Its creator, Riley Testut, recently spoke with Kotaku, sharing his hopes that the emulator can lead the charge into a new, better future for retro gaming. But first, before that all happens, Delta will have to find a new logo.
As reported by The Verge, on May 17, the Delta emulator on iOS was updated to version 1.5.4. And in the patch notes for this update, thereâs a message indicating that Adobeâthe company behind Photoshop and Premiereâhad sent Delta a legal threat.
âAdobe threatened legal action unless we changed our app iconâso we did! Hope yâall like it,â explained Deltaâs developer in the patch notes.
Image: Adobe / Delta / Kotaku
Testut spoke to The Verge about the situation, explaining that it all happened really fast across a few emails. This all started on May 7, when Adobeâs lawyers sent Testut a âfirmâ but âkindly writtenâ email requesting Delta change its icon, explaining that the emulator might ânot wish to confuse consumers or otherwise violate Adobeâs rights or the law.â
But before Testut could reply, the next day Apple sent Delta an email and suggested that the emulator might be at risk after it was contacted by Adobe, which alleged that Delta was infringing on its IP.
âWe responded to both Apple and Adobe explaining our icon was a stylized Greek letter deltaânot an Aâbut that we would update the Delta logo anyway to avoid confusion,â Testut told The Verge.
The current Delta icon on the App Store now is just a temporary one. The plan is to launch a new permanent logo in the future alongside update 1.6. As pointed out by the outlet, Deltaâs old icon most closely resembled Adobeâs Cloud Experience app icon. Since the â80s, most of Adobeâs logos and branding have included a stylized A featuring a gap, a design that does look similar to Deltaâs old, now-defunct icon.
Hopefully, Deltaâs next icon doesnât share anything in common with some other giant and litigious corporation.