PUBG Corp is suing Fortnite creator Epic Games over alleged copyright infringement

[midian182]

What just happened? While numerous games now include a Battle Royale mode, the two biggest names in the genre remain PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and Fortnite Battle Royale. But it seems the games' similarities might be a bit too close for comfort. PUBG Corp, the studio behind Battlegrounds, has reportedly filed a lawsuit against Epic Games for copyright violation.

According to the Korean Times, PUBG Corp filed the injunction in January. It asks the Seoul District Court to decide whether the similarities between Fortnite and PUBG constitute copyright infringement.

Following the release of Fortnite’s free-to-play Battle Royale mode in September, PUBG publisher Bluehole said it was concerned that Fortnite might be replicating the experience for which PUBG is known. The company later said it took issue over the fact PUBG is based on the Unreal Engine, and that developer Epic could prioritize its own game when it came to engine upgrades. Bluehole was also unhappy about Fortnite using the PUBG name in promo material.

"We just want to emphasize this is only a problem because Epic Games is the company that makes the engine we use and we pay a large amount of royalties to them. And we had this business relationship and we had trust that we would be getting continued support, and we were looking forward to working more closely with them to get technical support, maybe develop new features,” said a Bluehole rep last September.

Last month, PUBG Corp. filed a lawsuit against Chinese publisher NetEase in Northern California’s US District Court. It claimed that two of the company’s games, Rules of Survival and Knives Out, violate copyrights and trademarks held by PUBG.

No word on when the court proceedings will begin in Korea. "We filed the suit to protect our copyright," PUBG Corp. told the Korea Times. The move comes just as Epic gets ready to launch Fortnite in Cybercafes across the country.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/74832-pubg-corp-suing-fortnite-creator-epic-games-over.html

 

[Kyle9856]

... kinda funny that both of these companies are either owned or partially owned by the same company...

 

[Cycloid Torus]

....like Playboy suing Penthouse for 'replicating the experience'.

 

[skinnybuttons]

HA! Ok Bluehole, if you think you should be able to sue Epic, then Fredaikis AB can sue you for copying their game mode. Like are you actually kidding me? PUBG released Mar 23, 2017 in early access. Infestation: New Z released Nov 22, 2016...as in, full 1.0 release, not early access. This is just a developer whining because a F2P version of battle royal has become more popular than their paid version. ID Software didn't sue Microsoft or Rare for Halo or Goldeneye copying Doom because that's stupid and everyone knows it.

 

[davislane1]

TL;DR version: Fortnight is more popular than PUBG, so the devs who can't optimize their game correctly are suing the ones who can.

Expect them to lose. Fortnight is nothing like PUBG, I've played both.

 

[shm0wie]

It's very messy because: Tencent owns 40% of Epic. Tencent own between 5-10% of Bluehole. Epic also gets 5% of all sales for PUBG.

I'd say best/worst case scenario would be that the 5% of sales of PUBG has given to epic would be given back to them. That's ~30M * $30 * 5% = $45M. Now, does that mean Tencent would be responsible for 40% of that claim? I have no idea.

Regardless, this seems like a bad thing for PUBG in the long run, as support from Epic/Unreal will likely take a hit - and as we all know, that games need optimisation help quite considerably.

 

[Trillionsin]

TL;DR version: Fortnight is more popular than PUBG, so the devs who can't optimize their game correctly are suing the ones who can.

Expect them to lose. Fortnight is nothing like PUBG, I've played both.

They may seem different to us, but they might seem similar enough to those who are going to rule on this case. I mean, what happens is basically the same. But the skins are different... with a few different customizable options on either side.

Epic Games refused to give me a refund for Save the Gay*cough*World version. I have to file it through Paypal to get my money back, luckly I paid with Paypal.

After my experience with them, fook 'em.

 

[Nobina]

They do seem rather desperate to gain attention but this is not the attention they need, it's potentially gonna make matters even worse.

 

[Panda218]

[/QUOTE]Epic Games refused to give me a refund for Save the Gay*cough*World version. I have to file it through Paypal to get my money back, luckly I paid with Paypal.[/QUOTE]

That's the risk you take when buying into Early Access software

 

[Brach Speicher]

TL;DR version: Fortnight is more popular than PUBG, so the devs who can't optimize their game correctly are suing the ones who can.

Expect them to lose. Fortnight is nothing like PUBG, I've played both.

They may seem different to us, but they might seem similar enough to those who are going to rule on this case. I mean, what happens is basically the same. But the skins are different... with a few different customizable options on either side.

Epic Games refused to give me a refund for Save the Gay*cough*World version. I have to file it through Paypal to get my money back, luckly I paid with Paypal.

After my experience with them, fook 'em.

This still won't work due to it being a COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT case. The assets that Epic Games use in no way look like the STOCK ASSETS that PUBG used. Similar gameplay simply isn't a copyrightable work. The case is so baseless it's pathetic.

 

[texasrattler]

Seems some ppl can't read. They sued them a while ago not recently. This could be seen by some how Samsung was sued by Apple and won. Epic got a idea off of Pubgs game and went with it, Samsung did a similar thing with Apple. While Samsung may never actually pay anything to Apple because of their business relationship, it'll be similar for Pubg as it could use it as leverage if the courts find Epic was guilty of anything. Meaning a newer deal could be worked out as what has happened with Apple and Samsung in the past.
Also don't forget Epic did or has used PUBG in promos before which is a no no in business.

 

[SamuraiSamson]

-Carmack should sue everyone else if PUBG wins

 

[frostyshield]

For anyone with a brain, You will see that fortnight was unveiled YEARS BEFORE PUBG. So in effect... Epic could sue and win a lawsuit against pubg.

Lets see pubg corp try cry their way out when epic shows they had their game at E3 I believe years before pubg was even "imagined" .

 

[Puiu]

This is just stupid. You can't sue for a game mode. It's not something you can copyright.

 

[Abraka]

PUBG is a crap game, totally unoptimized, those people don't know how to program or make games. But fortunately for them, with enough money poured into marketing there will always be enough sheep to play it. If they spent some money on good programmers, instead of ads, maybe they would now have a good game. And wouldn't have to sue and cry like little bitches. Just boycott those bitches. Crap founder, crap company, crap game.

 

[Panda218]

For anyone with a brain, You will see that fortnight was unveiled YEARS BEFORE PUBG. So in effect... Epic could sue and win a lawsuit against pubg.

Lets see pubg corp try cry their way out when epic shows they had their game at E3 I believe years before pubg was even "imagined" .

True, but it was basically just an Orcs must die clone at that point.