Krafton, the developers of the famous battle royale Player Unknown’s Battleground, are going to war against the Chinese studios Garena. In question ? Two games that they claim would be an exact copy of PUBG. called Free Fire and Free Fire Max, they are free to download (with in-game purchases) and have been very successful in China. On January 10, Krafton released a report stating that legal action was being taken by the company.
However, Garena is not the only target of PUBG developers’ wrath. Apple and google are also in their sights, since they have the games in question on their store. Krafton also criticizes Google for posting Free Fire and Free Fire Max gameplay videos on YouTube as well as “many posts containing a Chinese feature film which is nothing but a direct adaptation of Battlegrounds“.
Similarities Between Free Fire and PUBG
In its report, the Krafton company said: “Free Fire and Free Fire Max copy many aspects of Battlegrounds individually and in combination, including Battlegrounds’ unique copyrighted ‘air drop’ start-game feature, game structure and flow, the combination and selection of weapons, armor, and unique items, slots, and the overall choice of color schemes, materials, and textures“. To this were added to the file several montages comparing the similarities between the games.
Garena’s two games have so far been very profitable for the company. Although the data is different according to the analysts, the profits of the in-game purchases of Free Fire would come dangerously close to those generated by PUBG.
While Krafton is reportedly working on a sequel to PUBG, it’s important for the company to retain its identity and thus avoid any confusion with other games. Sea, which owns the Garena business, told The Verge than “Krafton’s complaint is unfounded” but did not say more on the subject. To see who will make Top 1 between the various targeted companies!
PUBG will soon be available free-to-play. Some will wonder why the game makes this choice now, when it was released in 2017. The questions are many, but that’s good because David Curd (creative director) answered ours!