Editorial Staff
In January 2018, the PUBG Corporation requested an injunction against Epic Games requesting prohibition of copyright infringement. An employee from PUBG Corp. stated, “It is true that we have requested an injunction of prohibiting copyright infringement. It is, however, difficult to tell you right now of details and progress.” Along those same lines of thought, Epic Games has also said that, for the moment, there are no details to inform the public of, as the lawsuit is currently still in session. Whether or not that information will be forthcoming or not is still left to the player’s own imagination.
It all started on the 23rd of September 2017 when Han Kim, Director and Producer of PUBG Corp., noticed some similarities between his own title and that of Fortnite Battle Royale Mode. Kim said that he was disappointed that Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds development team is continually mentioned even though there is no relation to the Fortnite game at all. He was certainly not happy to find that Epic Games, who has actually been partnered with the PUBG Corp., released a game that had some of the same features of their own.
PUBG has, since making the allegations, produced a number of files, eleven to be exact, relevant to the case that proves Fortnite Battle Royale Mode has quite a few similarities that are major, to PUBG. Those similarities include such things as the UI style, the minimap, the crosshair overlay, the total number of players that are allowed in a particular game and the health regeneration system.
There has been some talk that the lawsuit could possibly affect the schedule of internet café service of Fortnite in South Korea. However, the company in charge of that internet café service, Neowiz, has said that there is currently no information available concerning the lawsuit between these two companies. He went on to say, “We were not aware of the lawsuit at the time, and we are only proceeding with an agreement to provide the stable services to both Epic Games and related parties in South Korea. The current delay of internet café services is not related to the lawsuit in any way whatsoever. As we have said before, [our purpose] is to enhance the optimization and degree of completion.”
In the injunction, PUBG has specifically stated that, with regards to Epic Games themselves, “We are no longer partners.”