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PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds creator sues NetEase for copying hit game
Knives Out, Rules of Survival targeted by PUBG Corporation in lawsuit
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This article originally appeared on ABACUS
I played a game today. It went something like this...
Jump out of an aircraft. Parachute towards a deserted island. Search abandoned buildings for a variety of real-life weapons. Try to kill everyone else to be the last person standing.
The game sounds like PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. But it also describes Knives Out. And Rules of Survival. And Xiaomi Gunfight. And any of the other PUBG clones on smartphones from Chinese companies.
Now the creator of PUBG is striking back by filing a lawsuit against NetEase in California. TorrentFreak obtained the complaint, where PUBG Corporation lists several elements that it says NetEase copied to create Knives Out and Rules of Survival. They include the similar island maps, the use of a frying pan as a weapon, and even the slogan PUBG uses to declare that you’re the last player standing: “Winner Winner Chicken Dinner.”
PUBG was still a PC game when NetEase released its clones on smartphones last year. And they’ve become incredibly successful: The company says Knives Out has over 100 million players, far more than the 40 million playing PUBG on PC and Xbox. PUBG has since been officially released on smartphones by Tencent -- which previously released two clones of its own.
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