PUBG Corp., the studio famous for PlayUnknown’s Battlegrounds, is suing the South Korean Division of Epic Games over copyright infringement. It claims that Fortnite, an Early Access title by Epic Games, copied many aspects from PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) in its Battle Royale mode. The lawsuit was originally filed back in January.
The company states that these actions are “a measure to protect our copyright.” Epic Games has not yet released any official statement regarding the lawsuit.
The situation involving the suit is quite complex. Not only does the Chinese investment firm Tencent own fairly large shares in both Epic Games and Bluehole, PUBG Corp.’s parent company, but Epic Games also created the Unreal Engine, which PUBG was developed in.
This lawsuit comes as Fortnite becomes the top Battle Royale game, surpassing PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds player base, luring popular content creators from the once in-vogue PUBG in the process.
Notably, this is not the first time that PUBG Corp. has sued another studio for alleged copyright infringement. The Chinese studio Netease was sued last spring for its mobile titles Rules of Survival and Knives Out.
We’ll be sure to keep you updated as more information as the story develops over the coming weeks.
This post was originally written by Tyler Krasnai.
