Apple, Google, and Lucrative PUBG Look Alike Being Sued by PUBG Developer

PUBG creator Krafton filed a massive lawsuit on Monday, accusing the developer of two mobile games of copying PUBG: Battlegrounds, the popular PC battle royale shooter, as well as Apple and Google for allowing the games to be distributed on their respective app stores. Google is also accused of hosting YouTube footage of the two games in question, as well as “many posts featuring a feature-length Chinese film that is nothing more than a brazenly infringing live-action portrayal of Battlegrounds,” according to Krafton.

Free Fire and Free Fire Max, both developed by Garena, are the games that Krafton has a problem with. They’re known as Garena Free Fire and Garena Free Fire Max on both the App Store and Google Play. Both are free to download and use with in-app purchases.

According to Krafton, Garena has profited hundreds of millions of dollars from the apps’ sales, while Apple and Google have profited handsomely from the distribution of Free Fire. On December 21st, Krafton claims it took the following steps: it asked Garena to “immediately stop its exploitation of Free Fire and Free Fire Max,” which Garena allegedly refused.It asked Apple and Google to stop distributing the games, which are still available on both app stores.

It asked YouTube to remove videos featuring Free Fire and Free Fire Max gameplay “that include elements that blatantly infringe Battlegrounds and, separately, the infringing feature,” which YouTube apparently refused. In 2017, Garena sold a game in Singapore that “copied” PUBG: Battlegrounds, according to Krafton. According to the lawsuit, while disputes about that were settled, no licence agreement was made.