Sometimes it’s funny how quickly a company can go from being known for creating a great product to being known for being an intellectual property bully. And if that doesn’t accurately describe the heel turn accomplished by the folks behind PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, then I don’t know what does. To be clear, PUBG, as it’s affectionately called, was a revolutionary video game. While the game didn’t invent the concept of battle royale, it definitely ushered that genre into an era. And just like all groundbreaking genres that are suddenly successful, that means that others will start trying their hands with the genre. While many other participants have entered the battle royale game, PUBG has fought battles with many of them, especially Epic’s Fortnite title.
Now, while PUBG managed to get some settlements from other lawsuits against battle royale game developers, it’s worth noting that it ended up dropping the lawsuit against Epic. because? Good, because unlike some of its other targets, Epic has a massive legal warfare coffer to fight back. And, as tends to be the case with PUBG lawsuits, all of its complaints were about unprotectable elements of those games. Much of what these suits PUBG files are for alleged copyright infringement of what ends up being ideas, rather than a specific expression. The concept of battle royale, for example, or the way in which part of the gameplay is conducted, are not protectable expressions, but simple ideas for a game genre.
PUBG’s controversial history
PUBG was originally released in 2016 and has had a great impact on gaming culture. The mobile version of the game was just as impressive for the company. In later years Krafton also sued both Epic Games and NetEase for releasing similar games. Their allegations in these cases were largely that they were obviously inspired by battle royale gameplay. This despite not being an original concept in PUBG.
The former (Epic Games) was dropped, while the NetEase battle escalated into a series of mutual lawsuits in different jurisdictions.
What should I do with my social media if I’m in the middle of a lawsuit?
Social media profiles, comments and messages are often used as evidence in lawsuits (from family law matters to employment matters and everything in between). If you’re in the midst of any kind of lawsuit, it’s best to strictly limit your privacy settings.
While changing your social media profiles to “private” has many benefits, it won’t help you completely escape responsibility for what you post. For example, if you’re applying for workers’ compensation saying you were seriously injured on the job, post videos of yourself dancing wildly at a concert—others could use that video against you. Even if you post comments on your private, personal social media account for friends and family to see, they may share or screenshot your comment.