Krafton, the developer behind PlayUnknown’s Battlegrounds and the maker of PUBG Mobile, sues the app stores and a rival game maker, Garena, over copyright infringement involving Free Fire.
The PUBG dev Krafton takes issue with Garena Free Fire and Garena Free Fire Max, and the complaint says the games have allegedly copied the PC version of PUBG, the battle royale game. Not only Garena but Krafton also sued the big players – Apple and Google. And why is that, you think. It’s not bizarre, but Krafton sued Apple and Google for publishing the Free Fire games on their app stores and distributing them to global users.
Krafton has also sued YouTube for hosting the videos featuring Free Fire and Free Fire Max gameplay.
According to Krafton:
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 weapons, armor, and unique objects, locations, and the overall choice of color schemes, materials, and textures.
Krafton asserts Garena has earned “hundreds of millions of dollars” from sales from the apps and that Apple and Google have “similarly earned a substantial amount of revenue from their distribution of Free Fire.”
Krafton claims that it already asked Garena to “immediately stop its exploitation of Free Fire and Free Fire Max,” which Garena refused. It also asked Apple and Google to stop distributing the games, but they are still on both the app stores. And 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-length film.” Still, YouTube hasn’t done, says Krafton.
Free Fire earned $1.1 billion in player spending in 2021, according to data shared by Sensor Tower with The Verge. Although it is lesser than PUBG Mobile’s astounding $2.9 billion, Free Fire’s growth is almost 48% up from 2020, whereas PUBG Mobile has grown 7% from 2020. However, PUBG’s growth is slowing down, whereas Free Fire is skyrocketing.
Apple and Google didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. On the other hand, Jason Golz, a spokesperson for Garena parent company Sea made a statement while talking to The Verge that “Krafton’s claims are groundless.”
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