PUBG v. Fortnite

Early Friday morning Chang Han Kim, the Vice President and Executive Producer of Bluehole Inc., developers of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, released a statement regarding the similarities between their game and Fortnite's new F2P battle royale game mode.

We’ve had an ongoing relationship with Epic Games throughout PUBG’s development as they are the creators of UE4, the engine we licensed for the game. After listening to the growing feedback from our community and reviewing the gameplay for ourselves, we are concerned that Fortnite may be replicating the experience for which PUBG is known.We have also noticed that Epic Games references PUBG in the promotion of Fortnite to their community and in communications with the press, this was never discussed with us and we don’t feel that it’s right. The PUBG community has and continues to provide evidence of the many similarities as we contemplate further action.

Some, siding with V.P. Chang Han Kim, are arguing that many of the game's core mechanics have been ripped off - that its blatant theft and there need to be ramifications - while others are taking a more intellectual perspective.

The birth of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds was not a stand-alone incident, simply the most noticeable outgrowth of a culmination of events. Years before Bluehole's publication of PUBG, PlayerUnknown made his name creating an Arma Mod dubbed "King of the Hill," in which players would scrounge the map for weapons and armor, while battling to be the last one alive on the battlefield. PlayerUnknown, whose real name is Brendan Green, said he got the idea from watching a Japanese movie called Battle Royale (2000).

It was years later when H1Z1 created their version, carrying the moniker King of the Kill, that "battle royale" officially became its own game mode, with thousands leaving the original game to spend more time in this new standalone offshoot - to the point that the publisher Daybreak Studios, made plans for it to be available on systems other than the original PC. It was then that South Korean game publisher, Bluehole Studios reached out to PlayerUnknown, inviting him to become creative director and help them create a full game; battle royale the way he envisioned it.

Now, there's no way for us to know how many copies of PUBG sold before Epic Games decided to add the game mode to their game, but it seems as if Bluehole has forgotten their success's origin. Their game is simply the peak of the battle royale game mode, and if it weren't for the various versions that had come before it, it's unlikely their game would have had the mindshare to even garnish half of their 10 million sales.

Fornite's Battle Royal Mode that goes F2P tomorrow, September 26th is simply the next step in battle royale's evolution. Their game does take a lot from PUBG, even using the game's name in their marketing materials, but Epic Games adds its own flair by keeping the building and gaming mechanics from Fortnite's primary game mode. Is the game mode remarkably similar to the source material, yes. But the ability to build a fort and protect yourself, in a game where the primary goal is to survive, provides a spin on the game that no prior iterations have attempted and I think it's a great addition to Fortnite. Not to mention that people unable to play PUBG on PC no longer have to wait for a console launch, but can have a similar gaming experience for no cost.

*Chang Han Kim had an interview with PC Gamer late Friday afternoon - but I wrote this motivated by his initial press release, sent out earlier that day. Rather than drastically changing the piece, I've posted my original thoughts and after reading the interview I'll include it in my follow-up post on the issue.* 

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As usual, I post my content again here so I can get some input from the community. As gamers yourself, do you feel this discussion is even worth having? Or, like me, do you feel that the evolution of the battle royale mode has simply created a genre, and that there can never be a downside to having more games to choose from?