The folks behind PUBG claim Fortnite’s Battle Royale mode is a ‘carbon copy’

It is no secret that PUBG is the biggest game in the world right now. In the last few months alone, the game has sold over 10 million copies and gone on to become the most played game on Steam. With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that other large developers are looking to break into the ‘Battle Royale' genre.

Recently, Epic Games has been playing around with its own Battle Royale mode for Fortnite and as it turns out, the folks behind PUBG aren't too pleased about it. Bluehole Studios didn't invent the genre, but according to excess there, Fortnite's Battle Royale mode ripping off PUBG.

Chang Han Kim, the VP of Bluehole and Executive Producer for PUBG recently name and shamed Epic Games, stating that the similarities found in Fortnite are not coincidental, as Epic Games has had an “ongoing relationship” with Bluehole.

“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.”

Brendan Greene, creator of the original Battle Royale mod for Arms 2 and creator of PUBG, added his own comments to the statement: “Other companies will, of course, enter the marketplace, but I would just hope they put their own spin on the game mode and not just make a carbon copy!”

For now, that is as far as this story goes, but there will no doubt be a rebuttal from Epic Games at some point. We will keep an eye out and update when that happens.

KitGuru Says: It does seem odd that Bluehole is targeting Epic Games when so many other studios are also emulating the Battlegrounds formula. However, if Epic Games did in-fact collaborate with Bluehole in some capacity beforehand, then this could end up being a legal issue. Have any of you guys played PUBG and Fortnite's Battle Royale mode? Are they as similar as Bluehole claims?

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