The studio behind the video game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) has sued for copyright infringement against Epic Games, publisher of its rival Fortnite: Battle Royale (Fortnite:BR ).
The lawsuit, allegedly filed in January at the Seoul Central District Court, alleges that Epic Games copied objects and elements from the PUBG interface, reports The Korea Times .
PUBG , launched in March 2017, is responsible for the massive enthusiasm for battle royal games . This kind of video game offers a very large number of players to compete at the same time in a game until only one survivor wins.
Fortnite: BR, a game mode Fortnite added to the original title in September 2017, was quickly accused of plagiarism by players and observers, who however did not shun the game so far. Indeed, Fortnite BR is now more profitable and more popular than PUBG.
A complex relationship
The shadow of a lawsuit has been hovering since Fortnite was launched : BR because of comments from Bluehole, PUBG Corporation’s parent company, in September 2017.
“We have had an ongoing relationship with Epic Games throughout PUBG’s design , as our game uses Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 4 engine,” Bluehole Vice President Chang Han Kim wrote at the time. in a statement. “After listening to the growing comments from our community and reviewing the playability of Fortnite’s ” Battle Royal ” mode, we are concerned that Fortnite will replicate the gaming experience for which PUBG is known.”
“We also noticed that Epic Games is referring to PUBG in its promotion of Fortnite to its community and in its communications with the press,” said Kim. This has never been discussed with us and we do not believe it is correct. ”
Epic Games has not commented on the lawsuit brought by PUBG Corporation.
According to Bloomberg , PUBG Corporation also filed suit earlier this year against China’s Netease inc. because she stole some ideas from PUBG for her games Rules of Survival and Knives Out .
Brian Shannon is just getting his start a reporter. He attended a technical school while still in high school where he learned a variety of skills, from photography to car mechanics. Brian also helps keep Techno Secrets social media feeds up-to-date.
