PUBG Corp., an affiliate of South Korean studio Bluehole Inc., is suing the Korean unit of North Carolina-based Epic Games, arguing its crush Fortnite copies a lot of the characteristics of its PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. The suit, alleging copyright infringement, has been registered in South Korea.
PUBG introduced its game this past year, and it became a huge hit as players embraced the Hunger Games-style concept in which 100 players race to kill each other until there’s a lone survivor. But the game’s features are embraced by competitions, prompting before legal actions. Fortnite has a similar Idea of 100 individuals competing with One Another but is dependent upon letting players build fortifications like Minecraft and using more cartoon-like graphics aimed at younger gamers.
Both businesses have a complex relationship. Epic Games provides PUBG using its Unreal Engine technology, which has been used to create PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. The software is instrumental in game titles and is the industry-standard for specialist games developers. Both companies are also partially owned by Tencent Holdings Ltd., China’s online giant.
PUBG has seen its popularity fall since Fortnite’s has risen. In February, Epic Games announced it had reached 3.4 million concurrent Fortnite players, topping PUBG’s record of 3.3 million attained in early January, according to information website SteamDB. Since then, PUBG’s participant count has fallen by half to about 1.5 million.
On Tuesday, PUBG had around 27,000 audiences on streaming platform Twitch, roughly a tenth of Fortnite’s 260,000. Over fifty percent of Fortnite watchers were tuned into popular streamer Ninja, a former PUBG player who pitched it for Fortnite earlier this year.
Fortnite, though free to perform, created $296 million in April through selling in-game things, based on research firm SuperData. PUBG has been purchased by 44 million individuals since its launch in March 2017, implying potential revenue of up to $1.3 billion, based on data website SteamSpy.
Earlier this season, PUBG sued Netease Inc. for allegedly highlighting two mobile games — Rules of Survival and Knives Out — about the notions behind PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.
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