Just when we thought that things had settled down between the makers of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and Fortnite, along comes an interesting twist.

A report from Korea Times indicates that the PUBG team, working under Bluehole, has filed a copyright violation lawsuit against Epic Games, requesting the court to determine whether Fortnite copied its fundamentals when it comes to its Battle Royale mode.

A PUBG official noted that the firm filed an injunction this past friday, looking to deal with Epic Games Korea through the Seoul Central District Court. “We filed the suit to protect our copyright in January,” they noted. He added that it was unfortunate that Epic Games made a similar game to theirs.

Bluehole had noted back in September that it was looking to weigh legal options against Epic Games after it launched a Battle Royale mode for Fortnite, but we thought things had simmered down following that statement.

As to why this is happening, it appears that Epic Games is preparing to enter the Korean gaming market, alongside Neowiz Games, with Fortnite so the creators of PUBG may be concerned that it would take too much of its audience. The question is whether the injunction will stop the game from releasing into that market.

Neither Epic Games nor PUBG had any comments on the matter outside of that, but the report is interesting. Korea Times notes that Fortnite is a “first-person shooter game” (though it’s clearly not) and there’s also concern as to why the injunction took so long to file.

Several users in Resetera have already sounded off on the matter. They think that PUBG doesn’t really have a case, considering that Battle Royale is an open genre at this point.

“Sue them for what lol a game mode?” one user asked. Another piped in, “Wow. Good luck.” And then a third noted, “I kinda want PUBG to win for the hilarious results.” Finally, one user had fun posting a dual Spider-Man pic with the two pointing at one another. Because of course they did.

PUBG has been struggling a bit in the face of Fortnite, but it’s going to be interesting to see how this injunction could affect their popularity. Thus far, most folks are treating it as a joke...though we’ll see what the court has to say soon enough.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is available now for Xbox One and PC. You can also play Fortnite on Xbox One and PC as well as PlayStation 4.

Posted: May 29, 2018 4:13 pm
Related Forum: Gaming Discussion

Source: http://comicbook.com/gaming/2018/05/28/fortnite-pubg-epic-games-going-to-court-korea/