The games that Crafton takes issue with are called Free Fire and Free Fire Max, offered by developer Garena. On both the App Store and Google Play, they appear as Garena Free Fire and Garena Free Fire Max. Both are available for free with in-app purchases.
Krafton claims that on December 21, he took some action: he asked Garena to “immediately stop his exploitation of Free Fire and Free Fire Max”, which Garena flatly refused; It asked Apple and Google to stop distributing games that are both still available on both App Stores; And it asked YouTube to remove Free Fire and Free Fire Max gameplay videos “that contain elements that clearly violate Battlegrounds and, separately, the infringing feature-length movie,” Joe Crafton says YouTube hasn’t done that.
BGMI maker Krafton sues Garena, says Free Fire is blatant copy of PUBG
PUBG, Crafton filed suit on Monday and it dragged big names to court. In the lawsuit, the developer has accused Garena of copying the PC version of PUBG: Battlegrounds – PUBG Mobile.
The lawsuit also mentions Apple and Google distributed Garena games through their App Store. And as for Google, the allegations go beyond Free Fire’s Play Store listing, with Crafton accusing Google of hosting a YouTube video that shows the gameplay of Garena’s games, several posts related to them, and a feature-length one. The Chinese film, which Crafton notes, has an explicit play on Battlefield.
Garena has two major games – Free Fire and Free Fire Max, and Crafton is followed by “clear” copies of Battlegrounds. Both games are available with in-app purchases on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
Crafton said that Garena made “hundreds of millions of dollars” from sales of the two games and that since these payments were made using systems from Apple and Google, both companies earned “a substantial amount of revenue from the distribution of Free Fire”.
Did Krafton is referring to the 30 percent commission charged by both Apple and Google on each in-app purchase.
Crafton’s concerns are valid because Free Fire and Free Fire Max are taking a serious dent in PUBG: Battlegrounds’ earnings due to a similar ecosystem. According to Sensor Tower, Garena Free Fire emerged as the highest-grossing app for months in a row last year.
The Verge, citing data from Sensor Tower, said that Free Fire generated $1.1 billion in player spending in 2021, up 48 percent from 2020. While PUBG: Battlegrounds of Crafton and other battle royale games are still quite popular globally, Garena Free Fire is famous in Asia including India, where the game managed to gain traction as PUBG Mobile was banned in India in 2020 Was.
PUBG Maker Krafton Files Case Against Garena Free Fire, Google, Apple, YouTube: Here’s Why
Being popular is not easy. Ask pubg game creator craften. The game developer has filed a case against tech giants like Apple and Google for allowing “clones” on its platform. There is one particular clone that has prompted Crafton to file cases against Google and Apple.
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) creator Crafton has sued Garena over multiple copyright infringements. The Korean company filed suit in Los Angeles federal court against the Singaporean organization.
It was alleged that Garena copied many of PUBG’s copyrighted features, including its structure, pre-game waiting lobby area, plane jumps, in-game items, equipment, play maps as well as locations. The charge is against Garena’s two battle royale games, Free Fire and Free Fire Max.
In addition, they sued Apple and Google for not stopping sales and hosting these Garena titles in their respective stores. Video hosting service YouTube was also accused of hosting Free Fire gameplay videos.
Prior to filing the lawsuit, the Bundang-gu, Seongnam, South Korean-based firm asked Garena to stop selling Free Fire and Free Fire Max in December, but the latter refused.
Similarly, Crafton requested Apple and Google to stop distributing both titles, but to no avail. Furthermore, he asked YouTube to remove several posts with both titles, but they also did not comply.
