PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds publisher PUBG Corp are currently in the process of suing Chinese developer NetEase for copying aspects of their game. In an interesting twist, NetEase have decided to sue their own set of copycats.
Savage is the PUBG map that Miramar should have been.
NetEase today issued a statement (found here, thanks to mmoculture) saying that they will begin to sue developers who copy “creative features” from their games, Rules of Survival and Knives Out. Those two games are both the subject of a lawsuit from PUBG Corp, which claims they are “substantially similar” to PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.
NetEase’s statement does not mention PUBG, but claims that their games have been downloaded by millions, and were downloaded with unique concepts and features. Sadly, the developers realised that other developers were copying their “original ideas” in their own games. NetEase say they will use legal resources to protect their intellectual property rights from “copycat” companies, which is a bold strategy considering they’re also being accused of being copycats.
PUBG Corp say they have suffered “irreparable harm” from NetEase’s activity, citing use of similar map features and even the use of the Chicken Dinner in NetEase’s online marketing as examples of infringement on their title.