PUBG developer Krafton sues Garena, Apple and Google over alleged PUBG clones
As reported by Reuters, South Korean game developer Krafton, the creator of PUBG, filed a lawsuit on 10 January in a Los Angeles federal court.
The lawsuit alleges that Garena's Free Fire and Free Fire Max games copy numerous aspects of PUBG: Battlegrounds, including its “unique copyrighted game opening air drop feature, the game structure and play, the combination and selection of weapons, armour and unique objects, locations, and the overall choice of colour schemes, materials and textures.”
Garena responded to the lawsuit with a statement, saying that “Krafton’s claims are groundless.”
Krafton also sued Apple and Google for distributing Garena’s games on their app stores. YouTube was also named in the lawsuit as it hosts videos of the Free Fire gameplay as well as a feature-length live-action film that’s an infringing dramatisation of Battlegrounds, the claim states. The videos have been viewed hundreds of millions of times, or even more than a million times.
Krafton stated that in December, it asked the app stores to stop distributing Free Fire, but they refused. YouTube also won’t take down the infringing videos.
The lawsuit came shortly after Krafton launched a follow-up title, PUBG: New State, which contains several new elements. The company is worried that the release will be “copied,” too, if the issue is not resolved.
The lawsuit states that Garena started selling a game in Singapore which is similar to Krafton’s shortly after Battlegrounds’ launch in 2017. Apple and Google then began selling a mobile version of the game, which was originally called Free Fire: Battlegrounds but was renamed to Free Fire. The lawsuit further states that the Singapore claims were actually settled between the two companies, but Krafton never entered into a licensing agreement with Garena.
Fast forward to September 2021, Garena released another mobile game called Free Fire MAX which is distributed on Apple and Google’s app stores.
Krafton also noted that the infringing game has gone on to earn “hundreds of millions of dollars” from its global sales. Apple and Google similarly profited, as they take commissions from games distributed through their app stores.
For comparison, as cited from Tech Crunch, PUBG Mobile earned $2.7 billion in 2020, which grew to $2.9 billion by 2021, according to Sensor Tower data. Garena Free Fire saw about $1.2 billion last year.
Krafton is currently seeking a jury trial to resolve the matter. However, to win, Krafton will have to prove to the court that Garena has infringed in the eyes of the law, not just by offering a similar “battle royale”-style game.