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| An image of Krafton's online shooting game "PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS" / Courtesy of Krafton |
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| CH Kim, CEO of Krafton / Courtesy of Krafton |
A hearing has begun on a lawsuit filed in a U.S. court in 2020 by Krafton, a Korean game company, accusing Chinese game maker, NetEase, of infringing on the copyright of the popular multiplayer online battle game, "PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS," according to industry officials, Thursday.
The two companies have been locked in a legal battle since 2018 over intellectual property (IP) infringement of Krafton's BATTLEGROUNDS.
Krafton filed a lawsuit in the U.S. against NetEase in May, 2018, alleging that the Chinese game company released the games, "Knives Out" and "Rules of Survival," which infringed on the Korean company's copyright.
In March of the following year, the two sides agreed on a settlement. However, the second round of litigation between the two sides began in March 2020 as Krafton filed a new lawsuit claiming that the Chinese company had breached the settlement agreement.
After Krafton obtained a preliminary injunction against NetEase to prohibit various acts related to the settlement agreement, the trial officially started on Tuesday (local time) in the Superior Court of California in San Mateo.
Regarding the issue, a Krafton spokesperson said, "We are unable to comment as this is an ongoing lawsuit."
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| An image of NetEase's "Knives Out" / Captured from Google Play |
The game has been a huge hit since its release in 2017, with many people enjoying the idea of competing for survival against an unspecified number of people.
The game has sold more than 75 million copies worldwide for both PC and console versions combined.
Due to the popularity, other game companies have borrowed the idea to create similar games. In January 2022, Krafton filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Singaporean developer Garena. The company believed that Garena's game, "Free Fire," infringed on various elements of "BATTLEGROUNDS."
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