'PUBG' Maker Sues 'Rules of Survival' Publisher NetEase Over 'Chicken Dinner' and Other Alleged Copyright Violations
"PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" was the hit game last year, as the game more commonly known "PUBG" single-handedly ushered in the "Battle Royale" craze. The game has since inspired several mobile titles just like it, and now PUBG Corp. has mobilized its lawyers.
"Rules of Survival" and "Knives Out," both by Chinese publisher NetEase, are two of the mobile games that have taken cues from "PUBG's" way of making a Battle Royale game. Just like the hit survival shooter, both games by NetEase involve 100 players per match, an island, parachutes, weapons and mysterious storms coming together to provide a free-for-all experience like no other.
When it comes to the tag phrase "Winner Winner Chicken Dinner," though, that's where PUBG Corp. draws the line. In a recent lawsuit filed last Monday, April 9, against NetEase, the "PUBG" maker accused the Chinese publisher of ripping off their game wholesale.
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In the court documents filed in Northern California's US District court, PUBG Corp. provided side-by-side comparisons of the two games to highlight all the similarities they could find, from the use of parachutes to the way the map of "Rules of Survival" looks just like the default "PUBG" map.
In their suit, the makers of "PUBG" alleged that their brand of Battle Royale, from the parachutes to the taglines, is "a copyrightable audio-visual work, individually and/or in combination with other elements of Battlegrounds," including the use of an airplane to serve as a pre-match lobby.
PUBG Corp. is also arguing that their idea of using pans and pots as weapon or armor is copyrightable, in combination with the vehicles and landscapes they have added to the game.
One of their main points, however, is their beef with NetEase over poultry. "The celebratory reference to chicken are elements of ornamental flair that are not functional but have acquired secondary meaning," PUBG Corp. contended in their court filing.
At the end of their suit, the makers of "PUBG" has asked the court to block NetEase from running "Rules of Survival" and "Knives Out," as well as have them pay for the damages to be awarded, according to Ars Technica.
NetEase has come out to deny these charges.
"In the course of our independent development process, we used two game engines that we spent many years researching and developing on our own initiative," the Chinese mobile game publisher stated in response.
"PUBG" has just come out with an official international version for the mobile late last month, a few weeks after Tencent has come out with two mobile versions of the game for China in February. NetEase, a rival of Tencent in mobile gaming, has beaten them to the punch long before that, though.
"Rules of Survival" was already out in beta version by October of last year, and now has a total of 150 million users using the iOS app. "Knives Out," meanwhile, has already recorded 200 million users.
