According to Reuters, Krafton, the developer of the popular online battle game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, or PUBG, has sued Apple, Google, and gaming business Garena over PUBG clone applications that mimic PUBG gameplay.
The lawsuit accuses Garena of developing PUBG clones called “Free Fire” and “Free Fire Max” in Singapore and afterwards releasing them in the United States. The lawsuit names Apple and Google as defendants for selling the “blatantly infringing version” of PUBG made by Garena.
As set forth in detail below, Free Fire and Free Fire Max extensively copy numerous aspects of Battlegrounds, both individually and in combination, including Battlegrounds’ copyrighted unique game opening “air drop” feature, the game structure and play, the combination and selection of wearpons, armor, and unique objects, locations, and the overall choice of color schemes, materials, and textures.
Apple and Google are accused of spreading hundreds of millions of copies of the Free Fire apps, earning Garena “hundreds of millions of dollars” and generating “significant revenue” for Apple and Google.
Garena’s apps had more than 100 million daily users by the end of 2020, and Free Fire was the most downloaded mobile game internationally in 2019 and 2020, according to Garena. Krafton forecasts that Garena will generate more than $2 billion in 2020, with $100 million coming from the United States.
On December 21, 2021, Apple was informed that Free Fire violates Krafton’s PUBG copyrights, but Apple did not take steps to remove the game from the App Store.
The case goes into great depth about the PUBG gameplay aspects that were duplicated in the Free Fire apps, but in the end, Krafton is demanding for damages as well as Apple and Google’s profits from the sale of the Free Fire apps.
Krafton also had a conflict with NetEase over PUBG clones, but the lawsuit was settled in 2019, and the business also sued Epic Games over Fortnite, but the complaint was eventually abandoned.
Apps that steal concepts and gameplay aspects from other apps are nothing new in the App Store, and clone apps have long been an issue. Indeed, just this week, Apple’s App Store allowed numerous clones of the popular web game “Wordle” onto the App Store before removing them due to media criticism.