PUBG developer Krafton's lawsuit against Garena, Apple, Google: What we know so far

Krafton, the developers of PUBG, has filed a lawsuit against Garena and has accused them of copying PUBG: Battlegrounds. And that’s not all. Krafton has also sued Apple and Google for distributing Garena’s games on their app stores. Additionally, Google has also been accused of hosting YouTube videos with gameplay of the two Garena games Krafton has an issue with along with “numerous posts containing a feature-length Chinese film that is nothing more than a blatantly infringing live-action dramatisation of Battlegrounds”.

The two games Krafton is suing these companies for are Garena Free Fire and Garena Free Fire Max. Both the games are available on the App Store and the Play Store for free with in-app purchases.

According to Krafton, both Garena Free Fire and Garena Free Fire Max have extensively copied many aspects of PUBG: Battlegrounds, including Battlegrounds’ copyrighted unique game opening “air drop” feature, the game play and structure, locations, the combination and selection of weapons, and the overall colour schemes, materials, and textures. 

The PUBG-maker has alleged that Garena has earned millions from in-app sales and Apple and Google have “similarly earned a substantial amount of revenue from their distribution of Free Fire”.

Krafton claims that on December 21 it asked Garena to “immediately stop its exploitation of Free Fire and Free Fire Max”, which they apparently refused. Apple and Google were also asked to stop distributing the games and both the games are still available on the app stores.

Krafton has also 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”, and YouTube has not done that yet.

Additionally, Krafton alleged that Garena sold a game in Singapore in 2017 that “copied” PUBG: Battlegrounds. The lawsuit mentions that while the claims regarding this game were settled, no license agreement was established.

Apple and Google have not spoken about Krafton’s lawsuit yet and a spokesperson from Garena’s parent company, Sea, Jason Golz, has told The Verge that Krafton’s claims are “groundless”.

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