Krafton has filed a lawsuit against Apple, Google, and game developer Garena over an alleged PUBG clone.
In a lawsuit filed on Monday (January 10), PUBG: Battlegrounds and PUBG Mobile developer Krafton has accused Apple and Google of allowing a “blatantly infringing mobile version of Battlegrounds” to sell on their respective app stores.
The mobile game in question is called Free Fire and is developed by defendant Garena. Krafton alleges that Free Fire – and a new game, Free Fire Max – “blatantly copies Battlegrounds” and includes “numerous aspects of Battlegrounds” included a copyrighted air drop opening.
Speaking to TechCrunch, a Garena spokesperson has said that “Krafton’s claims are groundless”.
For Apple and Google, Krafton claims both companies have “earned a substantial amount of revenue from their distribution of Free Fire,” and states that it has requested both companies to stop distributing Garena’s game to no effect. Krafton alleges this is a case of “selective enforcement of copyright law” that amounts to both Apple and Google allegedly liable for wilful infringement.
The lawsuit also names Google-owned site YouTube in its action, stating that it has requested YouTube removes Free Fire videos to no avail.
Krafton’s lawsuit aims to receive damages from the named parties, including “defendants Apple’s and Google’s profits in amounts to be proven at trial”.
Krafton’s lawyers have been busy this January. Last week, Krafton and Tencent Games were awarded £7.3million in damages following a lawsuit against a “hacking group” that created and sold cheats for PUBG Mobile. According to both companies, the money received in damages will be re-invested in the battle royale’s anti-cheat systems.
In other news, Valve has confirmed that Steam Deck consoles are still going to launch in February. The studio also shared that it’s been sending out “hundreds” of developer kits for developers to make their games compatible with the new console.
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