Tuesday, May 29th 2018
Epic Games Sued by PUBG Corp Over "Fortnite" Battle Royale Mode
Epic Games has been dragged to court by PUBG Corporation, developer of "Player Unknown's Battlegrounds" (PUBG) over "copyright infringement" and "plagiarism" in its smash-hit online multiplayer game "Fortnite." PUBG dominated PC gaming in 2017, as its South Korea-based developers raked in hundreds of millions of Dollars in revenues, having sold over 45 million copies of the game. When it released in 2017, "Fotnite" wasn't anywhere near as popular as PUBG, since it only included a tower-defense mode dubbed "Save the World." The game's fortunes turned around when Epic Games introduced the "Battle Royale" mode, which is an open-world free-for-all (FFA). PUBG has a problem with that.
In its complaint, PUBG Corp alleges that "Fortnite" Battle Royale mode copies not just PUBG's gameplay, but also its USP of dropping players in arenas empty-handed, and making them scout out weapons and items so they could both survive and hunt down others. The complaint also includes allegations that the user-interface (UI) is heavily borrowed from that of PUBG. Interestingly, PUBG itself has been inspired by Japanese film "Batoru Rowaiaru," the title of which loosely transliterates to "Battle Royale." This is a fact the defense could bludgeon PUBG's lawyers with.
Source:
The Korea Times
In its complaint, PUBG Corp alleges that "Fortnite" Battle Royale mode copies not just PUBG's gameplay, but also its USP of dropping players in arenas empty-handed, and making them scout out weapons and items so they could both survive and hunt down others. The complaint also includes allegations that the user-interface (UI) is heavily borrowed from that of PUBG. Interestingly, PUBG itself has been inspired by Japanese film "Batoru Rowaiaru," the title of which loosely transliterates to "Battle Royale." This is a fact the defense could bludgeon PUBG's lawyers with.
63 Comments on Epic Games Sued by PUBG Corp Over "Fortnite" Battle Royale Mode
Timeline:
2011: Fornite was revealed as the demonstrator for Unreal Engine 4.
2014: Fortnite became a functional prototype.
Early 2016: Brendan Greene ("PlayerUnknown") joined Bluehole and began production on Battlegrounds.
Jun 2016: Battlegrounds was announced.
Mar 2017: Battlegrounds released as early access.
Jul 25, 2017: Fortnite released as early access.
Sep 26, 2017: Fortnite Battle Royale released as early access.
Dec 20, 2017: Battlegrounds released.
Fortnite -> Fortnite Battle Royale couldn't have happened in three months. For a big company like Epic, that's just quality assurance time. Battle Royale had to have been in development much longer--at least a year.
What I find interesting is this quote: www.rockpapershotgun.com/2017/07/05/playerunknowns-battlegrounds-interview-new-modes-modding-plans-and-his-meteoric-rise/ Which implies there is some kind of patent, trademark, or copyright that Sony felt they had to pay for. Sony only consulted with Greene for a "few months."
These cases depend on evidence of dates and specificity of language, neither of which we have access to. It'll be interesting to see what comes of this. Because the last time Microsoft made a genuine PC game was near on a decade ago. Everything in game development has changed since then (the whole concept of day one patches, for example).
edit: Strangely, they still put out content for Flight Simulator. That's as PC Only as it gets. I have a basic edition so don't play any of it, but it's kind of cool that they work on it. EA would never have a studio dedicated just for something like this.... especially a title this old.
edit: I'd also add that being a console maker probably keeps them more in check as far as game quality goes. They want to create an attractive platform in general. While they lose against the likes of Sony and Nintendo, it forces them to think like them too. That couldn't happen if they behaved like EA. It's not good for the brand. They're constantly mindful of making "killer apps" instead.
Also, all you "kotk did it before pubg!!!!" People.... Do you not realize that kotk was PlayerUnknown's project as well?
Your (or my) opinion on the games in question is irrelevant, so throwing in insults about the game is irrelevant as well.
Additionally, look at my timeline: Battlegrounds was developed very quickly (a year) where Fortnite was in development for over 6 years. The decision to create Fortnite Battle Royale would have had to have been done before Battlegrounds went to Steam Early Access. Pretty sure that's not what Bluehole is accusing Epic of anyway...
I cited that article which explicitly talked about Greene and Sony licensing for a reason: Epic may have been inspired by Greene's earlier work, DayZ: Battle Royale.
I'll be fair I'm biased as hell in this. I would much rather have Epic come out winning the case and the money associated with their Fortnite success than handing it over to Bluehole. The latter has no real interest in gaming and does nothing to further it as a whole.
Which actually says that Epic Games Korea was served papers way back in January. The reason why we're hearing about it now is because PUBG Corp filed an injection against Epic Games Korea to stop Fortnite: Battle Royale from getting distributed to Korean cyber cafes.
I'd really like to see those papers filed in January.
The first major problem is the fact that PUBG is utter trash. If anything, people should sue PUBG Corporation for selling defective products.
The second problem is the fact that PUBG Corporations tries to stop the competition, not because it actually violates their trademarks or IP, but because the success of the competition is "threatening the popularity of Battlegrounds". And some of us considered the behavior of companies like EA to be bad… Also, keep in mind that PUBG didn't invent any aspect of this genre.
Some opinions on PUBG (profanity warning)
Please don't give your money to companies like this, companies like this are the problem in the gaming industry.
I'm concerned that 'PUBG' may be replicating the experience for which real games are known for. Yes, you're absolutely right. Anyone who has worked in software development can confirm that development takes a lot of time, usually even more in larger companies compared to small indie studios. Just the last rounds of QA and tweaking probably took way more than three months.