Krafton Sues Garena of Singapore for Copying PUBG: Battlegrounds
Foreign game companies are increasingly copying South Korean companies’ games and the South Korean government is doing nothing, according to those in the industry.
At present, Krafton USA and Singapore-based Garena are in litigation over the former’s PUBG: Battlegrounds. Apple and Google are also involved in the litigation as mobile game distributors and the litigation is adversely affecting the Krafton stock price, which dropped from 580,000 won in November last year to 343,500 won per share on Jan. 14 this year.
Garena launched Free Fire and Free Fire MAX in the United States. According to Krafton, multiple elements of the two games are identical to those of PUBG: Battlegrounds. In addition, Apple and Google did not remove the two games from their app stores even after Krafton notified them of the intellectual property infringement.
Earlier, Krafton was in litigation with NetEase and Epic Games as well. In addition, WeMade, Nexon and Webzen were in litigation over Mir, Dungeon & Fighter and Mu. According to Krafton, Garena’s sales from the two games amounted to more than US$2 billion in 2020 alone, including at least US$100 million from the service in the United States.
With South Korean game companies’ profit structures becoming increasingly vulnerable, it is pointed out that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs need to respond more actively to copyright infringement.