The Fortnite Battle Royale standalone spinoff is launching for free in short order. Developer Epic Games has been pretty transparent about being inspired by “ PUBG ” to give the gimmick its own spin. Unfortunately, Bluehole, developers of PlayerUknown’s Battlegrounds , aren’t super thrilled about it.
Bluehole dispersed a press release this morning about just how not super thrilled they are. Vice president Chang Han Kim expressed that Bluehole, having licensed Unreal 4, has had a close relationship with Epic Games. The tone of the release gives off a vibe of perceived betrayal. Kim says that there is a concern PUBG ’s game style is being “replicated,” and that despite mentioning PUBG directly in announcing Fortnite Battle Royale , there was no communication between the two companies beforehand.
Finally, Kim said that Bluehole plans to “contemplate further action.” Not a good sign, but for whom is unclear. Obviously iteration and derivative content is not a new thing in any medium, often leading to the formation of new sub-genres. If Bluehole wants to turn this into a fight, it may have its work cut out for it, especially considering PUBG ’s history.
Source: Kotaku