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Jackbox Denies Plagiarizing Solo Dev's Board Game
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“I had this idea late one night in April of like, ‘What if getting into an argument on the internet was fun instead of making you want to throw your phone out the window?'”
via kotaku.com
Our take
The dispute highlights the tension between large studios receiving unsolicited pitches and independent creators who fear their ideas will be absorbed. Jackbox's claim that their business development team is firewalled from game teams is a standard industry practice, but Greszes' allegation that the games are nearly identical suggests the firewall may not have prevented conceptual overlap or that the similarity is coincidental.
Background
Sam Greszes is a solo board game developer based in the Chicago, Illinois area, where Jackbox Games is headquartered. He created Die On This Hill, a social party game where players assemble phrases from word cards and argue for or against the resulting topics while other players vote.
Greszes developed the game after being laid off in 2024, launching a Kickstarter campaign in November 2024 that reached its funding goal. He pitched the game to Jackbox Games in early 2025, hoping to turn it into a video game. Jackbox Party Pack 12, which includes the game Debate and Switch, launched recently, prompting Greszes to compare the two titles and allege they bear a startlingly close resemblance.
The timeline
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Jackbox Games issued statement denying plagiarism
According to kotaku.com, Jackbox Games released a statement saying Debate and Switch was conceived and developed by their internal team without any knowledge of Die On This Hill. The company stated that outside pitches go to a business development team that does not work on party pack games, and that the copy of Die On This Hill sent by Greszes was not shared with or played by anyone on the Debate and Switch team.[1]
Our read of the evidence
Mostly unverified. The company's denial is the sole on-record comment, reported only by kotaku.com without primary source verification. No independent confirmation or additional perspectives have been documented. The claim remains unverified pending further evidence.
Our rating counts evidence, not opinions about anyone: events confirmed by a primary source (the person's own post, their official site, a court or government record) weigh most, then how many independent outlets report the story.
Frequently asked
Did Jackbox Games admit to plagiarizing Die On This Hill?
No, Jackbox Games denied the allegation. According to kotaku.com, Jackbox stated that Debate and Switch was developed internally without knowledge of Die On This Hill and that the pitch was not shared with the game team.
What does Sam Greszes say about the similarity between the games?
Sam Greszes says Debate and Switch bears a startlingly close resemblance to his game Die On This Hill. According to kotaku.com, both games involve assembling words to create debate topics and feature audience voting components.
When did Sam Greszes pitch his game to Jackbox Games?
Greszes pitched his game to Jackbox Games in early 2025. According to kotaku.com, after back-and-forth communication where Jackbox expressed interest, they requested a demo of Die On This Hill.
What is Jackbox Games' policy on outside pitches?
Jackbox Games states that outside pitches go to their business development team, which does not work on party pack games. According to kotaku.com, the company intentionally does not share those submissions with game teams to keep independent development independent.
More related drama (4)
Sources (2)
Cite this timeline
This timeline compiles 1 dated events from 2 sources. If it helped your reporting, cite it:
GenZHype. “Jackbox Denies Plagiarizing Solo Dev's Board Game.”
GenZHype, 30 October 2026,
https://genzhype.com/gaming/jackbox-denies-plagiarizing-solo-dev-s-board-game/.