PUBG Sues Fortnite

FrgMstr

Just Plain Mean
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PUBG has been actively suing other battle royale type games recently, but today we have found out that the kid gloves came off back in January. The Korean Times is reporting that PUBG developers, a part of Bluehole, has filed a copyright violation against Epic Games looking for an injunction in Korea. It will be interesting to see how all this plays out. It looks as all of this is coming to a head as Epic Games is looking to make a push into the Korean market. Thanks cageymaru.

PUBG is far and away from an original idea in itself as it was based on a Japanese movie entitled Battle Royale.


PUBG has sold over 40 million copies since its release, but Fortnite has been coming on strong in terms of player count, and exposure. Interestingly enough, Fortnite is free to play. Its business model relies solely on selling cosmetic modifications in the game. Fortnite made $223M in March.

Epic Games is currently preparing to make a foray into the Korean market in cooperation with Neowiz Games as the two firms signed an agreement in January to release "Fortnite" in so-called PC rooms here within the second quarter.
 
This is a shame, I really enjoy PUBG, but frivolous lawsuits like this tend to be a sign of "no ideas left" and "one hit wonder" ... I'm not sure PUBG oe BlueHole will be around in a couple years of their only retaliation against Fortnite is a frivolous lawsuit.

Reminds me of when Atari sued Sony to prevent the PlayStation from launching, was a last ditch effort to hold back more competent competition.
 
Sounds like Bluehole needs to sue every game that has had a Deathmatch mode since the beginning of gaming. How dare anyone use their idea of a game mode? They should be especially upset over all the games that came out before they were probably even gaming much less developing games.

I was a little sorry that I did not pick this early on, I heard that it was a fun game. I just have not had time. After hearing about this, I am really not interested any more.
 
I always preferred the gameplay of Fortnite more, but I played a decent amount of PUBG with friend who preferred it and definitely had a good time with it. It's sad to see PUBG take this route instead of trying to do something that would entice more players. Maybe fix some of the bugs? That's one of the biggest reasons I don't play PUBG solo.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong (and I probably am), but didn't H1Z1 have this game mode first?

It had the same style of gameplay, but you weren't dropped from a plane at the beginning, which is what PUBG Corp is stating as their unique take on the genre, and one of the things they say Fortnite is copying.
 
Lol suing Fortnite for copying them, when they have yet to make strides at optimization or take care of the major evident cheaters in their game. Like it was said above its just a last ditch effort to try and remain relevant in the market.
 
Lol suing Fortnite for copying them, when they have yet to make strides at optimization or take care of the major evident cheaters in their game. Like it was said above its just a last ditch effort to try and remain relevant in the market.

Gotta get funding to make improvements some way or another amirite?
 
I really hope this backfires and forces Bluehole into bankruptcy! This is just as bad as the Apple lawsuit against Samsung...just because you have competition DOES NOT entitle you to own a generic concept!
 
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Fucking incredible.

1. Create your game from a mod of another game with a game mode similar to what you're doing. One that was recently popularized by The Hunger Games, which in itself was heavily derivative of Battle Royale.
2. Become one of the most successful devs on the planet, swimming in money, despite not having a polished product and not handling development well.
3. Sue a competing company making a game on similar gameplay mechanics, forgetting that you copied your existing mechanics, and you can't really copyright general gameplay concepts anyway.

The irony / asshole-ism of all this is almost in a new dimension here. It's like copying someone else's homework, becoming a billionaire off it despite not doing your job well, then all you do is cry. Some people are utterly fucking hopeless.
 
It's going nowhere, everything about PUBG is generic, even the assets , models etc, what are they sueing for ? their game have nothing unique to it to be copyrighted upon.
they can't be that stupid to claim gameplay, fortnite didn't make the same mistake, everything they have in their game is original, even gameplay have been improved and polished.
instead of suing ppl left and right running after every dime, go polish your game, optimize it, add new features, get rid of the generic assets, you made like a billion $ from it, use it to improve the game, origanize events to bring back ppl, change business model to f2p, since you also went for micro transaction.
instead of this all they do is bitch about competition while trying to release a broken game on every platform possible to cash grab the max money they can.
PUBG is going to have a massive exodus because of the Devs if they keep this BS going.
 
I hope PUBG and Player Unknown get a smack down, lazy ass buggers.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong (and I probably am), but didn't H1Z1 have this game mode first?

Battle Royale used to be a popular mod for Arma 2 and then 3. PUBG is the same thing as a standalone. BR was out way before H1Z1, like years before.
 
It had the same style of gameplay, but you weren't dropped from a plane at the beginning, which is what PUBG Corp is stating as their unique take on the genre, and one of the things they say Fortnite is copying.
So I played the original battle Royale mod for Arma. Which dropped you from a plane. And that was years before either of these games...

But since that was made by Player unknown....
 
As far as i know you can't copyright a game mechanic. But you can copyright a game. Fornite and PUBG are completely different anyone can see that. If we started a game mechanic copywrite there would never be another FPS DOOM could sue them all. only 1 RPG, Mario as the only platformed it would be a dark age for us all if they win this case.
 
I don't have the time for indulging in multiplayer games these days, but the game is as far as I can tell, last man standing with a shrinking map. Making a claim of uniqueness by disguising spawning as an air drop is kind of questionable to be kind.
 
Can't wait for this garbage dev to get surpassed by someone with a superior product. They've reaped the rewards of being first on the scene but good god has it been a slog since then. And now instead of being extremely focused on improving their product they're going to waste money on dumb lawsuits. Meanwhile their mobile dev (tencent) is basically making a carbon copy of pubg (ring of elysium) and that's somehow not an issue? Oh well maybe just keep raking in the cash with idiots buying 5 dollar parachute skins.
 
I hope they lose. There is nothing new about a free-for-all FPS. Simply increasing the number of players and map size is not a new concept.
 
I agree I hope this fails and turns around on them. You don't own a genre and you didn't feel like suing until people stopped playing your game. And they didnt invent it either, couldnt it also be argued that any deathmatch mode with no respawns could fall into the same category?
 
I want some of what they are smoking. So much in electronic arts borrow from before, it is what it is. Completely original things usually have limited success at best. PuBG is not completely orginal in any way imaginable.
 
Wah!!! Poor me, someone made a better game than I/we did. Better get an attorney.

This is retarded. I know I've seen a few games before with free-for-all mechanics... Where might those have been? Oh yeah, every multiplayer shooter since the beginning of the genre. Not sure if I can roll them any further than this :rolleyes: ...but I'll try.
 
PUBG and Fortnite both use the Unreal engine 4 and Epic Games owns it. Threaten to revoke the license to use the Unreal Engine 4 if they do not drop the case.
 
Doubt this will go far and if it does....then ill get the popcorn and watch the other publishers such as Activision sue EA (and vice versa) for similar multiplayer mode games (COD vs BF). The two games with the exception of the battle royal concept are not similar....you might be able to make a claim the UI looks the same...but that is a far stretch even.

Bluehole did it to themselves. Instead of focusing on stability, a smooth gameplay experience, and cheating...they focused on other areas. Fornite Battle Royal is very polished compared to PUBG and Epic is constantly updating the game with unique modes, fixes, and enhancements that keeps people coming back. Hell...the second map in PUBG just came out on the Xbox One....months away from when it launched on PC. I am not a game developer by any means, but come on...its just a map. Should be a week or two apart...maximum.
 
Guys, the games are stupidly similar. There actually is a bit of an issue here. Not saying PUBG should win, but it has been an elephant in the room recently.

Don't any of you dare take this to mean I'm fanboying PUBG. I don't love or play the game that much. It's just that it almost makes a bit of sense for this to have ended up in court at some point. The decision will probably be exactly what you all expect, "You can't copyright a genre." But in the case of these collapsing map battle royale games there are only so many game elements that can be changed between games. So does this fall under the "there are 1000 different RTS games out there that all play substantially the same so how can you sue?" or is it "these two games are more similar than that." Similar enough to be infringement?
 
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