There have already been words said between these two when Epic launched the Fortnite battle royale mode last year, Bluehole was no impressed. According to the Korean Times, things are about to heat up.
PUBG has now filed a copyright lawsuit against Epic Games which is asking a court to determine if Epic copied PUBG’s PlayerUnkown’s Battlegrounds when creating Fortnite. The case has been filed at the Seoul Central District Court against Epic Games Korea. According to a PUBG official and the Korean Times, the suit was filed in January.
Shortly after the release of Fortnite’s Battle Royale mode, Bluehole was concerned about the similarities in gameplay, in other words, the actual battle royale mode itself. At the time Bluehole VP Chang Han Kim said, “We’ve had an ongoing relationship with Epic Games throughout PUBG‘s development as they are the creators of UE4, the engine we licensed for the game. After listening to the growing feedback from our community and reviewing the gameplay for ourselves, we are concerned that Fortnite may be replicating the experience for which PUBG is known.”
Epic did use the popularity of PUBG to entice players, a fact that did not go unnoticed by Bluehole. Han Kim added, “We have also noticed that Epic Games references PUBG in the promotion of Fortnite to their community and in communications with the press. This was never discussed with us and we don’t feel that it’s right.”
With Epic now looking to move into the Far East market, PUBG is obviously now a little more concerned about the effect a Fortnite launch will have in their home territories. Fortnite has been steadily growing month on month while PUBG player numbers have remained stationary for a couple of months.
It’s a strange case to bring to court and it would be surprising if a ruling went in PUBG’s favour.
