PUBG: Battlegrounds developer Krafton is suing Apple and Google over app store clones
Krafton, the company behind PUBG: Battlegrounds and PUBG: Mobile, has filed a lawsuit against developer Garena, alongside Apple and Google, seeking damages for what it calls «rampant, wilful copyright infringement» by a number of games available on the iOS and Android app stores it considers to be PUBG clones.
Specifically, Krafton (thanks TechCrunch) is targeting the continued availability of Garena's Free Fire games — which it calls «thinly veiled unauthorised versions of Battlegrounds» — with the original Free Fire having already been the recipient of a legal challenge by the PUBG developer.
Free Fire: Battlegrounds, as Garena's game was rather shamelessly known at the time of the original lawsuit, launched for mobile devices shortly after PUBG's release in 2017 (PUBG Mobile arrived the following year) and Krafton's initial lawsuit, which accused Garena of copying key elements of its game, resulted in a settlement between the two companies in Singapore.
PUBG Free to play — Launch Trailer.
Crucially, however, no licensing agreement was reached between the two parties, nor was Garena authorised to «sell or distribute games infringing [Krafton's] copyright» in the US. As such, Krafton is now taking its legal action against Garena to US courts, targeting the original Free Fire, still available on iOS and Google app stores, and the recent Free Fire MAX.
Krafton's lawsuit argues that as this second game offers the same user experience as its predecessor, it once again infringes on its PUBG copyright by «extensively copying numerous elements» of PUBG Battlegrounds — including its opening «air drop» mechanic, game structure and play, plus «the combination and selection of weapons, armour, and unique objects, locations, and
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