11 Most Outrageous Video Game Controversies Of 2018
7. PUBG Corp Goes On A Suing Spree
Did PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds popularize the battle royale genre? Absolutely. Did it singlehandedly invent the formula? Not on your nelly.
Modern-day battle royale games have adopted a series of homogenised rules, but they're all the product of the 'last man standing' mode that has existed since the dawn of the industry itself.
PUBG Corp, however, apparently disagreed with that established history and began throwing its weight behind several legal battles, one of which targeted none other than Epic Games, the name behind Fortnite and creator of Unreal Engine 4. You know, the very same game engine used for PUBG. Chinese developer NetEase was next on the hit list for its supposed copyright infringement, including blatant mimicry of the use of a frying pan as a weapon, an "imaginative treatment" that PUBG Corp apparently cooked (sorry) up.
One very beloved aspect of creative expression in Battlegrounds is the game’s iconic frying pan. Previous shooter games did not include the use of a frying pan… the imaginative treatment of a frying pan as a melee weapon is made even more remarkable by its further treatment as armor against shots to the butt of a character.
What became of the latter allegations remains unclear, but for the claim against Epic, at least, PUBG Corp seemingly realised the error of its ways and dropped the case a month later.