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.”

[Bhai]

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!

[UltraNova]

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.

[DethWish]

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

[UltraNova]

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.

[Eonjay]

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.

[morganfell]

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.

[Skull521]

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.

[Goldby]

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

[rainslacker]

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.

[morganfell]

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

[DarkVoyager]

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.

[ThinkThink]

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.

[IAreBeMrLee]

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

[The_Jackel]

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

[shuvam09]

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...

[Magnetar]

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

[shuvam09]

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

[pinkcrocodile75]

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

To which I say "B0ll0cks"

[IAreBeMrLee]

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

[pinkcrocodile75]

@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

[subtenko]

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

[Homunculus]

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

[morganfell]

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

[Goldby]

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

[rainslacker]

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.

[ramiuk1]

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

[Liqu1d]

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.

[UCForce]

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-310]

fortnite already took their place

[UCForce]

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

[remixx116]

@ucforce

I have a question, not as an insult or anything like that so don't take it that way but is english your first language?

Ot: blue hole just lost its ground to a competitor that offered a free, more polished and more frequently updated game, they winner was obvious from the jump.

Ps: i hate BR games so theres no favoritism here, just being objective.

[TheMustardCat]

Are you saying the owner of H1Z1 copied their own game (PUBG)?

[UCForce]

@remixx116 Look, my English is not perfect, but at least I know what I saying and understand what people saying. About PUGB, i’m tired of their arrogant.

Edit: @TheMustardCat I know that. But it doesn’t change fact that Blue Hole just being blinded by their overconfident.

[remixx116]

@ucforce

Yes i understand you, i was just curious if you primary language was a different one, my bad if i was pushin buttons.

[rainslacker]

Unless PUBG ramps up the completion of their game, which they should be able to do with the large amount of cash they've brought in, other developers and publishers are going to surpass them easily. Bluehole will be left as a footnote in history as the creators of a popular genre, but ultimately, won't be able to compete themselves in the genre they claim to have created.

They may still be around, as they're apparently making another game now. But it takes work to stay relevant. Just because you were first, it doesn't mean you are the best, or that people will flock to you when there are better options out there. COD doesn't keep doing well because they were the first to hit it big in the genre. It does well because they keep people hooked with quality relative to what is expected from the game. Bluehole OTOH, seems to think it can trickle out improvements or content and people will stick around, or keep buying their product. Even though they're early access, that can't maintain them in the face of heavy competition. It works for things like Star Citizen, but they at least show progress on a regular basis, and they don't have what I'd call heavy competition for what they're trying to make.

[Artemidorus]

Front page title of this file is called "butthurt".

[RadicalCannibal]

Bluehole, butthole

[lociefer]

Fortnite stole PUBG's already stolen ideas and shafted it, on the bright side maybe they'll both go away and put an end to this fade

[Gaming_1st]

Have you played either game? Sure they're both BR games and you shoot people, but that's about far as it goes. Fortnite has physics, mining, building, jump pads, jetpacks and the list goes on and on. Pubg did not create the BR genre, so they just made a BR game and in a lot of peoples minds is much better.

If people enjoy these type of games why does it bother you? Let them enjoy it and have fun. And btw it's fad not fade.

[lociefer]

Ya played both of them, got bored on the 3rd match , also did you see me saying pubg invented it ?
And btw it's people's not peoples

[Gaming_1st]

@lociefer

Your best retort is me forgetting a apostrophe? But you said "Fortnite stole PUBG's already stolen ideas", that's a double negative. You can't steal a idea that has already been stolen. So basically you replied to call me out on a apostrophe and not address any of my rebuttal, go figure.

[lociefer]

Let me help you understand, might be a little complicated for you. It basically means fortnite stole pubg's ideas, that were already stolen from another game, by that i meant pubg had already stolen these idea from another game and fortnite stole these already stolen ideas, please let me know if you still don't understand.

Oh and also its a fade (lol), but hey , i think this extra E triggered you, so let me send you the google link for the meaning of this word

https://www.google.ca/searc...

[Gaming_1st]

@lociefer

You are making my point for me. So you are assuming Fortnite stole the BR idea from PubG, when PubG stole it before. So why couldn't Fortnite just steal it from the same dev that PubG did. Why does it have to be focused on stealing from PubG. Your opinion doesn't count as facts. If you can prove Fortnite did that, by all mean lay the facts out. Otherwise stop making baseless assumptions.

Hope that wasn't too complicated for you. Then if you can understand, address the other issues of the discussion that was brought up that you have failed to do so.

[lociefer]

Lol you assume that i give a crap about any of them, but yeah, maybe just look when was fortnite released ? And their tweets regarding PUBG ? (Don't expect me to fetch them for you do your homework)

And lol at "other issues of the discussion"... wait you serious ? Lol .. ah you mean why does it bother me if others enjoy it ? Where did i write that ? Or did you just assume ? By wishing the fad would go away i meant for everyone to stop riding on this stupid fad(cod /bf), and all the celebrity crap.

But of course not, you had to take issue with it cause maybe you love fortnite a little too much. Just don't forget to return the credit card when you're done buying cosemetics

[Gaming_1st]

@lociefer

Again, being you have a reading disability.

"bright side maybe they'll both go away and put an end to this fade" <----Supposed to be "fad"

Again, being you have a reading disability.

"Sure they're both BR games and you shoot people, but that's about far as it goes. Fortnite has physics, mining, building, jump pads, jetpacks and the list goes on and on."

Again everything i said is a fact, unlike making assumptions. I mean if we want to get technical about Fortnite copied Ark survival of the fittest more then PubG. PubG is just a less optimized H1Z1 clone, being the same guy made both.

P.S. Seems you got triggered cause i called you out on your misspelling of "fad" or fade as you would like to call it...Btw, i do not play any BR games, i do not like them. Just not my cup of tea.

[lociefer]

"Again, being you have a reading disability" - brings up the first comment thinking it was new. Lmfao

""Sure they're both BR games and you shoot people, but that's about far as it goes. Fortnite has physics, mining, building, jump pads, jetpacks and the list goes on and on."
"Btw, i do not play any BR games, i do not like them. Just not my cup of tea"

- Of course you don't, smh

Again, remind me what you're still arguing about beside your insecurities playing fortnite ?

[Gaming_1st]

@lociefer

Again, deflect and deflect and make more assumptions instead of providing facts. Quick shot into your comment history shows that's a typical thing for you. It's obvious this discussion has been over a few comments ago. It's OK, i get it. You can not have a debate and you think your opinions are facts.

P.S. I did play the PVE of Fortnite.

[lociefer]

Ah you're not only triggered, you're a butthurt stalker too ? Dare i say ..... fan ?

[Aenea]

"Oh and also its a fade"

Ehh, no, it's a fad... The google link you so nicely provided is also for 'fad' not 'fade'

[lociefer]

Yes thank you i know, also i'm planning a typo camping trip if you're intrested, but unfortunately it's still a fad(e)
Also while you're at it, look at my username, does it also bother you that it's lociefer instead of lucifer ?

[littletad]

People can disagree all they want, it's the truth. And it's been reported and verified. But they shot themselves in the foot by working with Epic to begin with. But yes, Epic did copy them. The excuse that they're both "shooters" is hilarious. Either way, I hope they both go away.

[bluefox755]

If you can't beat em, sue em, I guess.

[badz149]

If they are Microsoft, "if you can't beat them, buy them"

[remixx116]

Sony : if you cant join em, beat em.

Nintendo: if you cant beat em: f*** it, do your own thing

Microsoft: if you cant beat em, buy em

Sega: if you cant beat em, well f***

[SoulWarrior]

Sounds like sour grapes to me, Fortnite is actually a fairly well optimised game that runs pretty well on all platforms, not a buggy mess that looks like a PS2 game.

Maybe they shouldn't have taken MS's money and left their game off of the largest console userbase by far, a userbase which Fortnite is flourishing on.

[zivtheawesome]

they have no right to sue epic, PUBG didn't invent the BR genre, it would be so hilarious if Epic just revoked their UE4 licesnse and force them to switch to unity XD

[rainslacker]

I don't think they can actually revoke the license based on this. Although, Bluehole is required to at least try arbitration first, although it doesn't have to be binding.

Also, Epic probably wouldn't bother, because it's quite likely that Epic is making pretty good money off of PUBG. If they use the "free" license, Epic is getting half the revenue(not profit), that Blue is making from the game. If they are using the paid license, they're making half a million for every year they are creating new content for the game and putting out releases(updates and such).

[PhoenixUp]

Bluehole just loves giving Fortnite more publicity

[OB1Biker]

It's ridiculous. Are they going to sue the many incoming games using the same idea?

[badz149]

Pixel Gun 3D just released their own BR update too on mobile. Maybe they want to sue that too

[zerocarnage]

Can't they all just get along. There would be a time that all this bitching in gaming wouldn't be there, we expect it life but not our games..

Developers have turned gaming into a cut throat business and shame on them for doing So,ow days they do all they can to earn money even if it's screwing one n other over.

[Killa78]

Not sure about copyright laws in the US, but in the UK, you can't copyright an idea.

I imagine it's similar in the US, but there would have to be some physical code exactly taken from pubg and plugged into fortnite which isn't available in the public domain.

[Cobra951]

Correct. To make it about an idea, it would have to be a patent-infringement suit. Copyright infringement is only about the actual code itself. They'd have to prove that the defendant took part or all of plaintiff's code and inserted it into their own work.

Prior art has nothing to do with copyright cases either. It doesn't matter whether either of these companies originated the genre.

[rainslacker]

The issue here is that PUBG, not being a big developer, used Epics Engine, and Epic is the one that created the scripting code that the engine uses. Because of this, Bluehole probably didn't use a lot of their own specific code, because they would have relied on Epic's scripting language, the tools available in their engine, and the routines already in place to make things happen within their engine.

At best, Bluehole made an algorithm that is specific to their game, but if they used Epic's script, then there isn't much Bluehole can claim, because it's entirely possible that Epic could have created that same algorithm completely independently. When it comes to software, copyright is different, as specific algorithms have to be patented. Just writing a piece of code first doesn't give you claim to it, unless that code was stripped directly from the one making the claim.

If Bluehole did create some of their own code in C/C++, which UE supports, and they found that code within Epic's own game, then it's possible they could have a claim. It'd be harder for Epic to say they created it independently.

But if this claim is just because it's in the same genre, I don't even expect this case to even be humored by the court during pre-trial.

[corroios]

Pugb should be taken to court for the HUGE crap they did with the launch of the game on the Xbox X.

How many millions did Microsoft payed them for the huge turd that launch on the console. How many more millions did they make with the game on the Xbox one....

[MetroidFREAK21]

Lol even though I prefer PUBG, it's quite obvious what game is better... Sorry their success has shown all the flaws in your game and you got jealous about it Bluehole...

[windblowsagain]

And H1Z1 came before both.

They are all the same game,lol.

At least fornite is smooth and has a different style of graphics.

I've played the H1Z1 Beta on PS4 and in places runs well. But needs alot of work.

[TheMustardCat]

And the owner of H1Z1 developed and created PUBG. Are you saying the owner of H1Z1 copied his own game?

[showtimefolks]

What funny is he left H1Z1 unfinished and now PUBG is stuck being unfinished

Another company comes along does it better so instead of trying to improve their offerings they are hating on epic for making a better more fun BR game

BTW PUBG is running on epic's engine

Epic will counter sue for misrepresenting their e fine in such a bad way

[Christopher]

Just FYI, that is possible. The IP is owned by the studio, not the person who worked on it. Leaving to make a copy of the game can be considered copying.

That's just 'legal' talk. Honestly, no one here can claim ownership on the style unless it includes actual code theft or asset theft. This is likely to be a court case that won't go in PUBG's favor.

[Goldby]

No we are saying he copied Minecraft hunger games

[rainslacker]

@Christopher

Actually, there is probably more merit for the company that the creator of PUBG left to sue Bluehole. Typically, it's not acceptable to leave one company, to make a competing game. There are usually non-compete clauses to prevent just such a thing happening. Usually for a certain time after a company leaves.

It's highly possible, and even likely given the experience of the creator, that he took what he made and used it in PUBG.

He did create something in a mod before that(forgive me because I can't remember all the games names), but once he signed on to a company, that creation of code used in the new game actually became the property of the new company.

This is assuming typical contracts that exist within the industry.

What Epic did here is in no way illegal, or pursue, because you can't copy an idea as broad as a genre.

[Christopher]

@rainslacker ***Actually, there is probably more merit for the company that the creator of PUBG left to sue Bluehole***

Likely, but my comment has nothing to do with that specifically outside of mentioning what I did in my first paragraph. The second is not about them, but about the current suit.

[aConIsDemocracy]

Fortnite FTW.

[Relientk77]

They're not gonna win lol

I would love to see them try to sue Activision next for Black Ops 4 or EA for Battlefield 5. PUBG gonna get their ass handed to them by their lawyers lol

[lildudexst]

😂😂 the hate is over 9000. Completely silly judge going to laugh. A cartoon builder battle royal vs a realistic shootout.

[DVAcme]

PUBG are digging their own grave. This is an obviously frivolous suit, since Epic not only can finger other battle royale games that existed before PUBG to show that they don't own the claim to the genre, but Epic can leave PUBG hanging with the game engine (since PUBG is made on Unreal Engine) and, once they win the lawsuit, they WILL countersue them to oblivion. Remember Silicon Knights?

[gamer9]

I don’t think they have a case, but all this talk of they should improve their game instead of suing.. none of the dev team is going to court, lol.. They have lawyers for that

[chobit_A5HL3Y]

pubg is garbage lol instead of improving their game to be competitive with others, they resort to this b**** move lol it looked like trash when it first came out, and it still does. how about updating the game so that people actually wanna play it over fortnite? i hate the br genre. but these guys need to shape up or gtfo. pubg is a barebones experience that looks like an open beta, ffs.

[subtenko]

This game is getting burried. So many battle royales game modes coming out with other games, first it was H1z1 as my first game, (not sure MAG had a technical battle royale mode), then Fortnite, not im have some nice times with Rec Room battle royale.

PUBG is fading away

[Kokyu]

A

[iNcRiMiNaTi]

Lol even though I prefer pubg and not a fan of fortnite, I think this is just stupid. Pubg's design rips off h1z1 kotk and I didn't see daybreak running around crying about it.

[Kokyu]

It seems its just another dev who put the least amount of effort into something got lucky it caught on, why I have no idea the damn game is pretty boring after about 15 mins, then gets pissed another dev put some work in, added a spin and is now getting money hand over fist and they want some of it, cant earn it so lets do the patten troll method

[theshredded]

This is a d*ck move and completely unnecessary, competition is good after all.

[moomoo319]

Salty boisss, bluhole is upset because they consulted with epic closely over the use of UE3 for pubg, then epic brings in their own wizard engineers to help create fortnite, a direct competitor, in under 2 months on UE4. Hey, all's fair in love and war 😁😁

[InTheZoneAC]

lol pathetic.

[Vanakka]

Tecnically Fortnite was announced years ago so could pubg be copying them? Around 2014 I think

[Davidgr2]

PUBG uses Epic’s Unreal Engine 4! Well at least try because the game runs like trash. Fornite runs very smooth across various platforms and it’s FREE.

[2pacalypsenow]

Cant beat em, sue them

[Dragonscale]

Seems bluehole is losing the battleground war lol. So are they gonna take activision to court as well? That cash could be spent on improving pubg, what a waste.

[cellfluid]

Players unknown battlegrounds copied from h1z1 so how they gonna take some else to court behind this lolo

[Homunculus]

Typical Americans can only copy, and they accuse Asians of imitating? I doubt PUBG will win because its a US court

[cell989]

Thins os so petty, I hope H1Z1 sues them in return

[rivaldoo777]

As a Korean, this is so embarrassing. Why not spend time improving their shitty game rather than complaining someone copying things and doing it better. Jesus Christ!!!

[ocelot07]

They'll fade away and classify themselves as obsolete........OBSOLETE!

[gtxgamer2]

I just don't see what this accomplishes. Suing a Dev for copying a game mode? They might as well sue other companies for having TDM or CTF. Or valve should sue the cod series because they stole prop hunt from Garry's mod /s. Regardless what I'm trying to say is just because pubg only has one game mode doesn't mean it's exclusive to their company/games.

[Sciurus_vulgaris]

This is a ridiculous lawsuit. PUBG Its self isn’t all that original (there were prior battle royale type games). Also, Fortnite differinates itself from PUBG, due to building, art direction (and actually running well lol). I hope Epic counter sues, or Tencent intervenes.

[LiamCell]

Rip.

[Elvfam511]

The devs that made MAG should sue both just because lol

[No Way]

I thought they already tried suing Epic for this? Why are they trying to sue EVERYONE. This makes me want to avoid their game even more.

[BlaqMagiq1]

Hopefully Epic wins this case. Bluehole wants to sue Epic instead of making their shitty game better? That's sad.

[Blu3_Berry]

Man, PUBG can go screw themselves. They're mad that Fortnite has taken all of their playerbase and now they want to sue to get more money. Bunch of greedy developers.

How about this, fix and improve your game PUBG. The game is infested with hackers, and it is lacking alot of content. For someone who made millions of dollars, the game is severely lacking in ambition and content. Improve that, and maybe players will come back.

Right now, you are just digging your own grave.

[kitano1947]

adding lootboxes before all major bugs were ironed out showed you their true colors.

brendon should leave and join an experienced developer and work on a new IP.