Suspect reportedly confessed to charge

Police arrested a 17-year old male high school student in Kashihara, Nara Prefecture on Sunday on suspicion of violating the Japanese Copyright Act by selling smartphones pre-installed with a cheat tool program for mixi's Monster Strike smartphone game.

According to the police, the suspect sold two phones in an online auction to two male individuals in Tokyo and Tottori Prefecture for a total of about 30,000 yen (about US$243). The cheat tool included in the phones allegedly altered game data to give players an advantage. According to police, the suspect stated in his deposition that "There is no mistake," and confessed to the charge.

Police are looking into possible ways the suspect could have acquired the program, and are looking into other suspicious online sales.

mixi describes the Monster Strike game:

Slingshot monsters and watch as they bounce around like pinballs, destroying enemies in their wake. Play with up to three other friends in this co-op action RPG. Become a master and collect over 1,000 unique and powerful monsters — staking your claim as the best Striker around!

XFlag Studio is adapting the game into a web anime series, which began streaming on Youtube on October 10 with English subtitles. As of October 25, the series had more than 5 million views.

Source: NHK News Web via Hachima Kikō