Clash of Clans is an extremely popular mobile strategy game developed and published by Supercell, a Finnish game company. The game was originally released for mobile devices back in 2012. Since then, Clash of Clans has become one of the most successful titles in mobile gaming history. As of November 2024, the game had generated around $7.2 billion in lifetime in-app sales, and in 2023, eleven years after its release, Clash of Clans still had an estimated 65 million monthly active players. The game is known for base-building, where players construct and upgrade their own village, real-time strategy, where players collect Gold, Elixir, Dark Elixir, and Gems, and multiplayer battles, where players attack other villages for loot and engage in large-scale combat.
Knock off versions of popular games have existed since the dawn of their existence, and that includes a title as famous and widespread as Clash of Clans. When it comes to the totalitarian state of North Korea, however, widespread franchises and movements are often cut off and kept out. It came as a surprise to Clash of Clans fans when Reddit user GRAUK leaked footage of North K0rea’s knock off mobile game. The user claimed to have discovered the game during a visit to North Korea, where the game is supposedly played often. The post features 12 images of a phone screen running the game whose title roughly translates to Fortress Defense in English. The knock-off game appears nearly identical to Supercell’s Clash of Clans, aside from a few notable differences, such as the appearance of the army troops.
North Korea has it’s own version of Clash of Clans
byu/GRAUK inClashOfClans
Many questions remain unanswered in the wake of Fortress Defense’s discovery. This glimpse into North Korea’s mobile gaming scene has left many wondering what other knock off games might be hiding behind the region’s borders. Anyone interested in playing the actual Clash of Clans can download the game for free on iOS and Android devices.