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Riot Games, the American game development and publishing company known for its popular League of Legends franchise, is suing Chinese gaming giant NetEase for allegedly plagiarising its free-to-play tactical hero shooter, Valorant. The case will be heard in courts in the United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil, and Singapore.
Riot Games claims that NetEase's mobile game Hyper Front is a "copy of substantial parts of Valorant." The company alleges that characters, skins, maps, weapons, weapon skins, and even weapon stats have been cloned by Hyper Front. "All of our creative choices are mirrored in NetEase's game," said Dan Nabel, the lawyer for Riot Games. "We don't think that changing the color of a character, ability, or slightly modifying the visual appearance change the fact that it's copyright infringement. It's like that old saying, 'You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig.'"
Valorant was released in 2020 and currently has a player base of more than 14 million per month. On the other hand, NetEase's Hyper Front was released in 2022 for Android and iOS platforms and currently has more than one million downloads on the Google Play Store.
Riot Games is seeking "substantial damages" and wants the courts to shut down Hyper Front. The lawsuit is the latest in a series of legal battles between gaming companies over allegations of copyright infringement. In the past, major players in the industry such as Epic Games and Activision Blizzard have faced similar allegations.
The gaming industry has seen rapid growth in recent years, with the rise of mobile gaming and the increasing popularity of esports. This has led to intense competition between gaming companies, with many seeking to replicate the success of popular games in an effort to gain a larger share of the market.
However, allegations of copyright infringement can damage a company's reputation and potentially lead to significant financial losses. As a result, it's important for gaming companies to ensure that they develop original content and avoid copying the ideas of their competitors.
Riot Games' lawsuit against NetEase is a reminder of the importance of protecting intellectual property in the gaming industry. It remains to be seen how the case will play out and whether Riot Games will be successful in its claims of copyright infringement.