It seems Bluehole and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds don’t like a little (and we mean probably little) competition. Today they released a statement about the forthcoming free game mode for Fortnite, titled simple “Battle Royale”. In short, Bluehole things Battle Royale via Fortnite is too close to PUBG’s Battlegrounds. Never mind the fact that there are a dozen or more Battle Royale games out on Steam already, and more being announced constantly, it seems that Bluehole is more concerned that a popular game like Fortnite is replicating the experience.
Fortnite’s lead even stated that they love PUBG and ergo made their own game version of that (see their announcement video). I’m just not sure what’s new about this situation for PUBG to be so openly salty. Games have been chasing the popular titles for years. Remember when World of Warcraft launched and a million games tried to be it? Remember when League and DOTA rose to prominence and MOBAs came out in droves? Overwatch is seeing its own genre rush now too. This is the same… and as the big kid on the block, PUBG should be less openly nervous about the copycats, and more prideful and determined to outshine the newcomers. They’re the King of the Hill (or Kill if you want to chase PUBG’s own roots in another game), they should act like it.
Read the press release below:
Bluehole, Inc., developers of PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS (PUBG), the first standalone Battle Royale survival shooter game, responded today to growing concerns regarding the similarities between the battle royale mode in Epic Games’ newly revealed Fortnite and PUBG.
“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,” said Chang Han Kim, Vice President and Executive Producer for Bluehole, Inc. “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.”
The development team for PUBG has no relationship to Fortnite’s development as concerns around User Interface (UI), gameplay and structural replication in the battle royale mode exist.
“We have also noticed that Epic Games references PUBG in the promotion of Fortnite to their community and in communications with the press,” Chang Han Kim continues. “This was never discussed with us and we don’t feel that it’s right.”
With its release on March 23, 2017, PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS is a last man standing shooter that drops players on a realistic 8 x 8 km island where they start with nothing in an ever diminishing field of play. Gamers must fight to locate weapons, vehicles and supplies as they strive to be the lone survivor.
In a recent Reddit AMA (e.g. Ask Me Anything) session, Brendan Greene (aka PLAYERUKNOWN) was asked about other companies replicating the Battle Royale experience:
“Other companies will, of course, enter the marketplace, but I would just hope they put their own spin on the game mode and not just make a carbon copy!”
Chang Han Kim closed, “The PUBG community has and continues to provide evidence of the many similarities as we contemplate further action.”
Mr Lobster
Seems like a really strange thing to try to sue someone for. Never heard of anyone getting so upset about someone else copying a game mode. I doubt this would ever see the inside of a court room.