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PUBG takes US game firm to court

Korean game developer PUBG, a subsidiary of Bluehole, has filed a copyright violation lawsuit against U.S. based Epic Games, asking a court to determine whether the latter's “Fortnite” copied the former's “PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds.”

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koreatimes.co.kr
Bhai2009d ago (Edited 2009d ago )

So, instead of improving upon their own game that runs like crap, has fallen into mediocrity and staleness... they have resorted to sue Fortnite???...
Yeah, Fornite is going to invade Korean market now ;) adding to its growing popularity... this reaction was expected!

UltraNova2009d ago (Edited 2009d ago )

Instead of doubling down and trying to make their game the best it can be(e.g. iron out their engine) and offer gamers incentive to stay and invest time in it they consume themselves with bitter actions against the competition...

Why wont they diversify? They could easily create limited time modes where players have powers and/or quirky weapons. Take a jab at Fortine if you like. But no, they are vindictive.

Sour grapes I tell you. Bluehole is a sore looser.

DethWish2009d ago

"their engine" this is actually pretty hilarious as they're using epics engine (unreal)

UltraNova2009d ago

Well it is isn't it? But lets be honest here, Fortnite is Epic's game as is Unreal engine + PUGB is doing "realism" and bigger maps so thats that.

Eonjay2009d ago

I bet that this will result in the purchase of Bluehole by Microsoft. Mark my words. It is so easy to see how these companies operate.

morganfell2009d ago (Edited 2009d ago )

This just in, Greg Thomson, the guy behind Maze is suing every first person shooter maker ever for copying his idea.

Not really, but that';s about the extent of this idiocy by PUBG. As they go down they are like a drowning person scrambling to grab onto anything to keep them afloat.

Epic has a pretty good legal record. And they tend to really come back and utterly crush people that take them to court over frivolous matters. PUBG, about to be hoisted on their own petard. Not exactly what I saw when I forecasted that PUBG would not last but this is a bad sign and a horrendous move for them.

Skull5212009d ago

There is no doubt Fortnite rushed to capitalize on PUBGs success because no one cared about Fortnite, and PUBGs business was definitely affected. I actually hope they win this.

Goldby2009d ago

They don't need special powers in pubg, that's what hackers are already doing on the pc side lmao

rainslacker2008d ago (Edited 2008d ago )

Bluehole seems to have some sort of death wish in the industry or something. They have accused Epic of potentially having an unfair advantage because they own the engine that Bluehole decided to use, and used that to try and insinuate that Epic shouldn't compete against them. But that notion ignores that it means Epic wouldn't be able to make games, because there isn't a genre that doesn't use their engine.

Now their parent company is accusing them of copyright infringement.

That's a pretty serious claim, and it seems petty to try and push Epic out of the market just because they're doing better than PUBG is, and doing it much faster than PUBG is.

If Bluehole and their parent company have a problem with people doing the genre, then they're going to be in a very rude awakening over the next few years, because it's likely to become a standard game mode in a lot of MP games.

The notion that Bluehole somehow has rights to the genre is ridiculous, not just on a legal level, but on a standard operating or what people have come to accept. Imagine if when Horde mode became a thing, that other companies weren't allowed to because the first company that did something like that laid claim to it.

@Skull

Doesn't matter if Epic rushed to include it in Fortnite, or their reasons for doing so. It's still not copyright infringement to make a mode in their game in the same genre. Epic could outright make the same game, and if they did it independently, they still wouldn't infringe with just changing a few things here or there.

It's effect on PUBG business is moot to the issue. If one game affected PUBG to the point they couldn't compete, then they didn't stand a chance when every other MP game ends up with the mode in the future.

morganfell2008d ago (Edited 2008d ago )

When are they filing against Activision? If they are going to go full retard they might as well go after them too.

+ Show (5) more repliesLast reply 2008d ago
DarkVoyager2009d ago (Edited 2009d ago )

First he says they welcome the competition and now they filed a copyright violation lawsuit against Epic? Talk about a 180. Now that Fortnite has taking over the Battle Royale scene it's a different story? Smh.

ThinkThink2009d ago

Are referring to Brendan Greene, pubg corp or blue hole? I believe it's blue hole which initiated the lawsuit, not Greene or pubg corp.

IAreBeMrLee2009d ago

I hate how Bluehole act is if they've created the Battle Royale genre...

The_Jackel2009d ago

its funny really, all it really is, is a name change from "last one/man standing" to battle royale. think unreal tournament had last man standing i cant remeber the games they were off top of head just more isolated then that of a open word style game that fortnight h1z1 and pubg

shuvam092009d ago

Well then shouldn't Sony sue PUBG for copying MAG???
How one can honestly claim to own a genre just baffles me...
Better product sells more, simple...
Besides, Fortnite does enough to differentiate itself from PUBG...
So its just a non-case...
I hope that the only outcome of this is lower player count for PUBG...
They deserve it...

Magnetar2009d ago

Mag is nothing like these games, that’s the worst comparison ever.

shuvam092009d ago

You know what battle royale means right??
Mag was full on battle royale, albeit team based...

pinkcrocodile752009d ago

So like so many others on here, you presume to know the inner workings of a developer.

To which I say "B0ll0cks"

IAreBeMrLee2009d ago

@pink
They're trying to sue a company for copying there game... it's in black and white m8... no assuming here...

pinkcrocodile752009d ago

@MrLee

Crossed wires here, I was referring to comments regarding the lack of investment in their own game which is utter shite as we we all know.

They could take He-Man to court and I wouldn't care, hell they could f1nger Ivanka Trump and I'd sleep like a baby.

Next time I'll add a quote to what I'm replying to, so totally understand your confusion :D

subtenko2009d ago

Almost looks like PUBG is about to become another Day Z. Hype at first then forgotten and stuck in development mode.

Starcitzen makes more progress

Homunculus2009d ago

How is fortnite better? It has only 7 characters and is cartoony

morganfell2009d ago

Yet a free game passes PUBG in revenue. Right now Twitch has over 2.5 times the viewers for Fortnite vs PUBG.

Goldby2009d ago

Runs better, plays better, more attractive for streamers.
Art direction has no correlation with quality

rainslacker2008d ago

Unless Epic outright stole code from PUBG, there is no case here. Genre's are not something that can be copyrighted.

There's no reason that Epic would steal code from Bluehole. They have some of the most talented devs in the world, and could easily come up with their own solutions.

All that being said, it doesn't matter if PUBG is shit or the best game ever. Copyright infringement is something that is taken seriously when it's actually a real case. They can't copyright a genre though. It'd be like the author of Twilight trying to claim they now have rights to all vampire romance novels.

Anyhow, it'll be interesting to see how this plays out, or if it just fizzles before ever going anywhere. I believe this is the first time something like this has been attempted.

To me, it seems like it's derivative work at best, which is more than acceptable. But in reality it's just a different take on a theme. Same thing that any number of movies, TV Shows, Books, and most of all games, do on a regular base.

ramiuk12008d ago

its jut like apple vs samsung though isnt it.
if you cant beat them ,take them to court

+ Show (6) more repliesLast reply 2008d ago
Liqu1d2009d ago

Great use of time and money. /s

Instead of wasting money on pointless lawsuits that you can't win how about you focus on fixing and improving your game to compete with the competition. Keep trying to sue competition and you'll fade into irrelevancy. It's ridiculous how bitter this company is.

UCForce2009d ago (Edited 2009d ago )

The problem with Bluehole. It’s their arrogant. They think themselves that they are the one who created the genre, but it’s not. Minecraft Hunger Game, H1Z1 and Culling are BR games before PUGB created. Of course, Bluehole doesn’t want to admit and they are afraid that Fornite will take their place.

Thatguy-3102009d ago

fortnite already took their place

UCForce2009d ago

@Thatguy-310 I see. But still, Bluehole is angry and jealous.