PUBG Corp is suing multiple battle royale games that they see as mere clones of PUBG. And before we get any further, no, Fortnite isn’t one of the games. 

The games named in the suit are both mobile titles and are both incredibly similar to PUBG in a myriad of ways. Knives Out and Rules of Survival, both published by the Chinese company NetEase, are the two games named in the suit. Both game’s graphics, gameplay, map design, character design, weaponry and more look and feel very similar to PUBG. However, both games did launch on mobile before PUBG. 

PUBG Corp is suing NetEase for what they see as copyright infringements and they claim that the games launching on mobile prior to PUBG was merely NetEase attempting to undercut PUBG Mobile’s release.

A key element in copyright infringement cases is hurt and gain. A general rule of thumb is that for copyright infringement to be upheld, one party has to see considerable gain and the other has to see considerable hurt, otherwise the whole thing is usually dead on arrival. As both Knives Out and Rules of Survival are at least moderately popular on mobile, it stands to reason that NetEase gained both in popularity and financially from the alleged copyright infringement. There’s less to back up PUBG Corp’s claim that they were irreparably hurt by NetEase’s actions, especially given PUBG Mobile‘s soaring popularity, and that could be something that the company finds difficult to prove.

That being said, this suit is likely a message as much as anything else.  Last year, PUBG Corp lamented over the similarities between PUBG and Fortnite, but they didn’t go so far as to bring about a law suit. This lawsuit is a statement from PUBG Corp that they’re not afraid to defend their product against the numerous “clones” that have sprouted up in the last twelve months. 

There could be one other element to the case as well. PUBG Mobile is being published with Tencent, one of the largest gaming companies in China. NetEase is also a Chinese-based company. It’s certainly possible that Tencent’s recent involvement convinced PUBG Corp that they needed to take action.

Also noteworthy is the fact that NetEase might have recently launched their own copyright infringement suit in the last day or so. The reports are still unverified, but some outlets are reporting that NetEase’s suit claims that their game’s are being copied by other companies. The suit suppossedly doesn’t mention PUBG at all and it isn’t clear exactly who it’s directed at.

We’ve reached out to Netease for confirmation and we’ll continue to update this article as we learn more.