There’s an unspoken rule in gaming that it’s ok to “steal” an idea, theme, genre choice, or various other things when making a title as long as it’s not a 1:1 stealing of it. So, if Halo was the inspiration for another shooter title, that’s fine, but if it’s basically Halo with different skins and nothing else different, that’s a problem. Get it? Well, for a while, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds was the top dog when it came to Battle Royale games, then came Fortnite, and now everything has changed.
When Fortnite released, they didn’t have a Battle Royale mode, and their sales were low. Then a few weeks after launch, they released a free-to-download Battle Royale mode, and their sales boomed. The catch was, basically everyone who saw the Battle Royale mode noted that it was a literal copy of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, step for step. The only real differences were the skins, a few of Fortnite’s weapons, and obviously certain mechanics that Fortnite had beforehand, like building forts. Naturally, the team behind PUBG wasn’t happy.
So, not long after Fortnite launched their Battle Royale mode, PUBG decided to sue. Citing that Epic Games, who signed a deal with PUBG to make the game on the Unreal Engine, used knowledge that wasn’t theirs and helped Fortnite, which is their property. ironically, this felt like a slam dunk of a case, and yet, as Bloomberg reports, the lawsuit has been withdrawn:
“PUBG Corp. sent a letter of withdrawal to Epic Games Inc.’s attorneys on Monday and the South Korean case has since closed, according to the website of the local court system. PUBG and its law firm confirmed the action but wouldn’t say why, nor whether a settlement had been reached. Representatives for Epic in Korea had no immediate comment.”
Something must have hanged, but it’s unclear as to what.
