PUBG Corp's Lawsuit Against Epic Could Set an Uncomfortable Precedent for Games Development

It's not exactly a shock that PUBG Corp has gone legal against Epic Games. Right now, much ink has been spilt mocking PUBG Corp's decision to file such a lawsuit, but not much has been spent discussing what happens if the company actually wins.

[morganfell]

No it won't. PUBG is going to get a smackdown and that will be the end of it.

[UCForce]

PUGB is going to lose the lawsuit for this. Seriously, I hate arrogant developer like Bluehole.

[combatcash]

I really hope they lose. This is some petty shit, the games are completely different. Both are great in their own right, but IMO fortnite has a smoother gameplay experience. Improve your game, drop the res on the Xbox one X, and implement new things more often.

[Michiel1989]

I hope they lose and get their Unreal Engine license revoked, thats what you get for being a greedy little cunt.

[Babadook7]

This reminds me of another lawsuit between two companies from South Korea and America. Apple iPhone which was ripped off by Samsung Galaxy. That time the American company was first and ended up winning in court. Here it’s kind of the other way around.

[Skull521]

Stealing other people’s ideas has always been wrong. That is why we have copyright and patent laws.

[Liqu1d]

I hope Epic revoke Pubg's UE4 license. Maybe then they'll know their place.

[Fantomex]

If the PUBG devs breach the license agreement, EPIC can revoke the UE4 license. If they didn't, Epic legally can't.

https://www.unrealengine.co...

[Aceman18]

Epic should take back to license of their engine so this whack a$$ company has to do their own work of creating an engine.

[iplay1up2]

PUBG is a hot mess on Xbox One X, not even steady 30fps,and I guess its even worse on OG Xbox One and S. Ugly, graphics. PUBG players say it looks "realistic" uh no, bushes don't just POP in, along with everything else, the water even looks ugly. I will take Battle Royal 4K 60FPS, any day over PUBG, till they FIX IT!

Anyway, different games. The only thing they have in common is battle to death. The rest is totally different. The Building aspect alone in BR, makes it different.

[DialgaMarine]

Ironically, the Xbone/ Xbone S evidently give an advantage because the graphics are so bad. You can’t see anyone more than 100 feet in front of you, so it’s a lot easier for people to hide and camp lol

[GottaBjimmyb]

I mean, king of the hill, TDM, horde modes, etc were all made by game companies first, and others implemented them, in many cases with many more similarities than Fortnite and PUBG, so I highly doubt this will fly in court.

That said, I kind of get the argument, but I think it is more representative of why PUBG needs to optimize their game and add modes and content to keep their game fresh than it is to say that others used similar gameplay and that hurt them.

[ravinash]

The thing is everyone keeps assuming this is about the BR game mode.
Bluehole and Epic were meant to be partnered in Blueholes game development, and then all of a sudden another game of epic that was already out that no one was paying attention too suddenly takes not just the game mode, but all sort of elements of the game play.

If i was a smaller game developer and had an original idea for a game, I would have to think twice about partnering up with Epic.

It's all fine for people to use other peoples ideas, but if your a smaller company that's relying on your head start to establish yourself. You would be pretty niffed if a partner company used their insider information and started giving you product away for free.

[Rippcity]

@ravinash I did not know that Epic and Bluehole were supposed to be partners which makes the situation even worse on Epic's part. Not to mention Bluehole is already paying out royalties to Epic for using their engine in the first place. So not only are the potentially stealing their gameplay elements, they are also charging them to use engine! Bluehole is at a severe disadvantage here all thanks to Epic. This is totally a corporate vs indie battle. Unfortunately for Bluehole, even if they have a leg to stand on legally, I'd imagine Epic would just bleed them dry through court fees. It's a shame too because I truly believe pubg is the superior experience (playing on PC here).

[spicelicka]

I would honestly like PUBG more if it wasn't so unpolished. I like the realism.

[cluclap]

I love how one of the PUBG modders tried to use music or movies as an example of their situation as if there is no copying in those two mediums. Has he literally seen any film or heard any popular music in the past decade? Lol

[DialgaMarine]

These morons don’t understand the concept of a genre. We already know why they’re doing this though; they’re butthurt that their game isn’t the top of the BR pyramid. Can’t wait to see both H1Z1 and CoD smoke them as well.

[morganfell]

Between the PUBG lawsuit and BFV social commentary game, I am going to purchase COD just to give them the finger. I wasn't going to due to the lack of a campaign. It would have been the first COD game I had skipped. But the enemy of my enemy is my friend and all that. It may only be one vote so to speak, but it's my vote. Another reason I really do not want to see PUBG on the PS4. Jerk companies should be financially strangled.

[subtenko]

Rec Room Battle Royal too. I dont have time for this PUBG BS with them making their drama public

[GottaBjimmyb]

The h1z1 and arma mods were both by player unknown, just being honest. So saying they were first is actually just more supportive that he made this type of gameplay. I just don't think the argument that a game mode can be copyrighted.

[No Way]

Morganfell - that is ridiculous reasoning.. all youre doing, in turn, is supporting Activision's conquest to remove single player. Choose your battles, wisely. Activision is a jerk company, too - as is EA, dont get it twisted.

[DialgaMarine]

@No-way I wouldn’t call it ridiculous. He’s simply weighing out his options and determining which game will suit his interests more. Personally, I’d be a lot more interested in BFV too if it wasn’t trying to use WW2 to cash in with more SJW-propoganda. That’s just a garbage message. Plus, it’s not like BFV’s SP campaign will be worth a damn; BF hasn’t had a really good campaign since BC2. BF1’s War Stories were crap.

[DialgaMarine]

Isn’t PUBG running on the Unreal Engine? How dumb can Bluehole possibly be? We already know that if Bluehole won this case somehow, all it would lead to is them proceeding to sue any company that has a similar game, and has the potential to beat out PUBG like Fortnite has. In other words H1Z1 and CoD, you’re next.

That’s not how this industry is supposed to work. MS must have really rubbed off their nastiness on Bluehole; the level of greed is unprecedented.

[The_Jackel]

cant wait to hear bluehole lost and is forced to shutdown for this bullsh*t.

if you are geatting beat by the comp make the game better instead of wasting time and money sueing other devs

[nowitzki2004]

So you are telling me the better game always sells more than its competition?

[morganfell]

I took it to mean when your game is getting beaten then if you want to get back on top make the game that the most people want to play. Stop pushing a bug filled title on them, stop focusing on the competition and instead focus on your own product. Suing Epic in no way will make PUBG better. You don't automatically have a great game by eliminating the competition.

And better is a subjective idea. Raw numbers of players is not.

[The_Jackel]

@morganfell

thats pretty much what i was trying to say in short :)

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

@nowitzki2004,

Not always, but in this case, I do think of Fortnite being the better game of the two despite the fact I've barely played either. If PUBG tightened their optimization, then they may have been able to put up a better fight despite the price difference.

[nowitzki2004]

You have barely played either but Fortntie is better?? IMO Fortnite is COD and PUBG is BF

[iplay1up2]

People who play PUBG, ON CONSOLE, and think its great, I just don't get it. I paid $30 for a game(preview? Really? How long will it be before they can FIX this game) that cant even do steady 30 FPS on my Xbox One X, the pop in and ugly graphics, are terrible. I also disagree that it looks "realistic".

Battle Royal, is 4K 60FPS, I would play PUBG if it could do 1080p, at a steady 30fps.

[Kabaneri]

Maybe they should focus on updating their game instead of suing the competition. Fortnite, unlike PUBG, has actual unique assets in their game like the treasure chests, supply Llamas, jetpacks, etc. PUBG is bland and boring the maps are huge and have zero inspiration, Fortnite BR is a better game in every way at this point. How dumb PUBG corp is to think they can copyright an entire genre.

[Lon3wolf]

When are Bluehole going to change their name to Brownholes?

[morganfell]

I was actually thinking of something similar due to the manner in which they have been acting.

That's the other thing they have miscalculated. From a PR standpoint this is a bad move.

[Lon3wolf]

Indeed they really are not doing themselves any favours.

[subtenko]

PUBG is dying

[OffRoadKing]

BS frivolous lawsuit because they know people prefer Fortnite over their game.

[Shineon]

They should all just copy each other ideas ans add on to them why not

[Smokehouse]

Normally PUBG never would of had a chance. The truth is that you never know what a judge will do these days. Judicial activism has been a serious problem lately. Judges ruling by their personal opinions and preferences instead of law.

Hopefully they lose and a few years ago I would have said it’s certain. It’s just not certain anymore, it could go either way.

[Takwin]

Tyler Perry's Blueballs corp will lose.

[milohighclub]

...

[Goozex]

I thought Ms was interested in buying pubg. Since this has happened no wonder they have been quiet.

[Trueflames]

Well be original and dont copy its simple

[Goozex]

10 cents is a Chinese software that's part publisher and worth billions. I don't see this lawsuit settling anytime soon.

[Richhard1]

They should drop both parties on an island to fight this one out.

[pyroxxx]

so should arma community sue them? arogant pricks that stole that concept in the first place

[rainslacker]

Precedent requires that a case be won in some way. Assuming that this ever makes it to court, which it probably won't, and Epic wins. On the off chance that Epic loses, it would be uncomfortable, and completely catastrophic for the industry, as you'd have everyone starting to sue the industry if they ever made anything close to what was made before. It probably wouldn't be the people who even made it, but the holdings company which happen to have the rights to whatever game happened to create a genre.

Think about how Atari and Colecovision hold the first game in many genres....and that copyright is retroactive. You'd think they wouldn't want some easy money?

But in the end, it won't ever get to court, unless this isn't about copying a genre.

[CrowGoblin]

Imagine ID and John carmack doing the same to every FPS game ever made.

[Rippcity]

For all the uninformed people posting on here saying it's ridiculous to try and sue a company for stealing a game mode, that is not what this suit is about. The suit is about a breach in Bluehole's copyright for PUBG. Epic specifically used the name "PUBG" in an ad for Fortnite BR without talking to Bluehole which is why Bluehole actually had a legal leg to stand on here. Here is a link to the ad where PUBG is mentioned right at the beginning. https://youtu.be/GFsnKORnfF...