PUBG Corp is taking Epic Games to court in South Korea over accusations that Epic Games copied intellectual property to create Fortnite Battle Royale. “This is a measure to protect our copyrights,” a PUBG representative told Bloomberg News. This isn’t the first time PUBG Corp has accused Epic Games of copying its designs on Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) for the increasingly more popular Fortnite Battle Royale. The corporation filed an in injunction in January against Epic Games Korea, according to the BBC. Epic Games is now accused of copying PUBG Corp’s weapon designs as well as the user interface from PUBG. While both games employ similar gameplay traits— Fortnite Battle Royal and PUBG both drop 100 players into a map and make them battle it out until only one person, or one team, is left standing — there are some notable differences between PUBG and Fortnite Battle Royale. Fortnite encourages players to build forts and craft items in order to defend themselves and better their attacks, while PUBG hasn’t incorporated any building skills in the game at this point. Fortnite has continued to grow in popularity while attention to PUBG has struggled to match that game’s immense popularity. Epic’s Battle Royale mode launched in September 2017, just a few months after Fortnite’s initial launch in July of that year. Fortnite remains the most watched game on Twitch, according to analytics site TwitchMetrics, averaging an impressive 187,000 viewers in May. PUBG, however, only averaged an approximate 52,000 viewers this month; a 9 percent decrease in viewership. Even streamers like Dr DisRespect have called out the player base jumping from PUBG to Fortnite. “The game is slowly dying,” Dr DisRespect says in the video above. “Until they change the player mechanics and optimization, it’s never going to succeed at the Fortnite level. Ever!” Update: An Epic Games representative told Polygon the company doesn’t comment on ongoing litigation.<doc-sep>Fortnite player reveals secret easter egg FREE for the biggest new releases, reviews and tech hacks SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Sign up forfor the biggest new releases, reviews and tech hacks When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they'll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time. Fortnite is being sued by its greatest video game competitor PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG). PUBG is the most popular game on Steam, while Fortnite is the hottest game in the world right now - with millions of gamers logging in to play both titles every day. The studio behind PUBG is suing Epic Games, the Fortnite developers, intellectual property theft. PUBG developers have asked a court in South Korea to investigate and determine if Epic Games did steal the idea for the popular shooter. The two games are incredibly similar, differing only slightly in gameplay and tone, with both attracting a massive gaming audience. Why is PUBG suing Fortnite? PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds emerged from obscurity in March 2017, pitching 100 players against each other in a free-for-all deathmatch. Taking inspiration from popular movie thrillers Battle Royale and The Hunger Games, PUBG has players scramble across a large, sprawling map that slowly shrinks in size, collecting weapons and gear in order to survive and become the last person standing. The game quickly became a massive success, sparking a battle royale trend that has seen dozens of other copycat games released in the last year. One of those games to be released after PUBG was Fortnite. Fortnite leaked skins discovered in update 4.3 game files Tue, May 29, 2018 FORTNITE leaked skins are discovered alongside dances, loading screens and lots more. Play slideshow 1 of 13 More cartoony and light-hearted in tone, Fortnite is essentially the same premise, dropping 100 players into a shrinking map, forcing players to fight and collect weapons to survive. Fortnite was quick to release after PUBG, coming out in July 2017 as a Player-Versus-Engine game that had gamers building forts against an onslaught of zombie enemies. Given the rising popularity of PUBG on PC, Fortnite developers, Epic Games, decided to add a Battle Royale mode in the same vein as PlayerUnknown. Both games have become massive hits among the gaming community in the last year. In February, Epic Games said Fortnite had broken the world record with 3.4 million people playing at once. The previous record of 3.3 million simultaneous players was set by PUBG. Fortnite has a more catoon-like art-style PUBG has a much more serious tone to Fortnite Recent reports, however, show that player engagement in PUBG has slumped slightly since the beginning of 2018. While Fortnite popularity has only increased, with popular rap artist Drake playing several games streamed on famous Fortnite player and Twitch streamer Ninja’s channel. Fortnite rocketed into the public conscious, becoming one of the most in-demand games online overnight. Fortnite: Is PUBG suing Fortnite? What is the lawsuit about? PUBG New Weapons Skins and UI revealed Sun, March 25, 2018 Bluehole Inc. are releasing two new crates and a range of new weapon skins for PUBG PC players. Here's a first look at the designs. Play slideshow 1 of 11 What is the lawsuit against Fortnite? The developers behind PUBG have now indicated they have launched a lawsuit against Epic Games for stealing intellectual property. The company said that Epic Games had allegedly copied PUBG’s UI and several game items within the world. "We filed the suit to protect our copyright," the company told the Korea Times. The move has been criticised by many gamers who feel that, while Fortnite is a similar concept to PUBG, the actual game itself, as well as the weapons and items in the game, are completely different. Fortnite is now the most popular video game int he world PUBG is the second most popular game behind Fortnite<doc-sep>
The companies behind the two biggest battle royale video games are about to see who’s the last man standing in court. PUBG Corp., developer of “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds” and subsidiary of Bluehole Inc., is suing the Korean unit of “Fortnite” developer Epic Games, Bloomberg reports. In a lawsuit filed in South Korea, PUBG accuses Epic of copyright infringement. “This is a measure to protect our copyrights,” PUBG Corp. told Bloomberg. “PUBG,” which launched in March 2017, is a competitive online game where 100 players are dropped onto a map and forced to scavenge weapons and equipment while fighting each other. The last person standing wins the match. Epic Games launched a battle royale mode for its co-op sandbox shooter “Fortnite” about six months later. It has a similar concept, but adds a building mechanic to the mix. After it launched, “PUBG” publisher Bluehole said it was contemplating “further action” against Epic for “replicating the experience for which ‘PUBG’ is known.” While “PUBG” popularized the current battle royale genre first, it now finds itself in “Fortnite’s” considerably larger shadow. “PUBG” has reportedly sold over 30 million copies since launch, but its player base on PC is dropping, according to IGN. Meanwhile, “Fortnite” is currently the largest free-to-play console game of all time, and it’s dominating PC and mobile as well. It made five times “PUBG Mobile’s” first week revenue on iOS, according to market intelligence firm Sensor Tower. It’s also currently the most-watched game on Twitch and YouTube. This is not the first time PUBG Corp. has sued over copyright infringement. It filed a suit back in April against mobile developer NetEase, claiming two of its titles — “Rules of Survival” and “Knives Out” — copied ‘PUBG’s’ gameplay. This new suit is unusual because both companies are partly owned by technology giant Tencent. “PUBG” is also built on Unreal Engine technology, which is owned by Epic Games. Neither Epic Games nor PUBG Corp. have responded to Variety‘s request for comment.