Battle Royale creators from PUBG Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds are suing Epic Games, the makers of Fortnite, over the newly introduced shooting game genre in order to protect their copyrights. The popularity of PUBG which grew massively last year is responsible for the creation of Fortnite a gaming phenomenon that now dominates Twitch streams and is one of the most influential ones of the late 2010s.
In previous months, PUBG developers Bluehole announced their “growing concerns” regarding the vast similarities that its competitor had featured in their own game, leading to the Korean developing company to file a lawsuit against Epic Games in the country. The Korean Times announced this alleged copyright infringement and now wants to determine in front of the Seoul Central District Court if Fortnite took advantage of the newly introduced features.
However, it remains unknown how exactly did Fortnite infringe copyright, but it is a fact that both games were developed using the exact same Engine 4 that was created and licensed by Epic Games.
"If you own a pizza shop that starts doing well, and someone else opens a pizza shop nearby, you don't try to convince a judge that you own the idea of selling pizza in that part of town; you compete" https://t.co/ORpc9nYUYJ Rob Fahey on PUBG vs Fortnite pic.twitter.com/GYjDrpJDqb
— GamesIndustry (@GIBiz) June 1, 2018
PUBG v Fortnite: a Battle Royale in court
PUBG has sold more than 40 million copies around the world, and it has made its way to become an Xbox One exclusive piece of art. However, it battles against Fortnite’s completely free cross-platform dominance and popularity which earned the game around $300 million during April alone. Both platforms recently took their battle on mobile phones.
Player’sUnknown Battleground was initially launched in May 2017, and it was inspired in the Japanese thriller film Battle Royale where students are depicted in dire situations being forced to fight to the death against each other by the government. The aforementioned game initially made its way with a 100 players that parachute onto the battleground to engage in a battle to the last man standing.
While Fortnite was released in July 2017, and the battle royale mode, the one in dispute, was not added to the game until September of that same year, this added featured game mode also had 100 players parachuting to an island in the search for weapons until one last standing player.
"PUBG's Player Count Has Dropped By Over 50% Since January." ..Maybe concentrate on improving & evolving the game rather than absurdly suing Fortnite like a sad spoiled child. Your lawsuit is laughable & turns ppl against u. @PUBG I hope u lose this case in spectacular fashion. pic.twitter.com/2HYZSnGcc3
— Joe Vargas (@AngryJoeShow) June 1, 2018
Fortnite, however, had one difference: it allowed players to gather resources like wood, metal, and bricks to build fortifications that are paramount for the battle experience.
The rivalry got even more bitter when Epic Games announced that Fortnite had beaten the brief established record of 3.3 million simultaneous players gathered by PUBG, until Fortnite gathered 3.4 million people paying at once.
However this legal battle has just begun, and there is not much that can be speculated from the trial.
Source: BBC
