PUBG Corp., the Korean Subsidiary of Bluehole Studios (the developer of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds), has dropped its lawsuit against Fortnite developer Epic Games Inc. PUBG had filed a copyright infringement claim against Epic in South Korea back in January. According to reports, PUBG alleged that Epic had copied PlayerUnknown's assets and user interface. You can read our coverage here. However, on Monday, PUBG sent a letter of withdrawal to Epic's lawyers and the South Korean case was closed. Neither side has stated a reason for the withdrawal. PUBG's lawsuit against Netease Inc. is still ongoing, and we will continue to provide updates when available.

It is worth noting that Tencent Holdings Ltd., a Chinese social media/gaming company, is a part-owner in both Bluehole Studios and Epic - each to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars - and might not want its investments suing each other. Also, PlayerUnknown's currently runs on Epic's Unreal Engine 4, which could also play a part in the settlement. We may never known the exact reason PUBG withdrew, but the cross-over between the two sides could have been a significant factor. As of right now, this appears to be the end of the legal conflict between PUBG and Epic.

On October 11, Epic Games, Inc. and Epic Games International (“Epic”) sued individuals Brandon Broom and Charles Vraspir in two separate suits (5:17-CV-0511 and 5:17-CV-0512) for copyright infringement, circumvention of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”), breach of contract, and intentional interference with contractual relations.  The suits, filed in the Eastern District of North Carolina, relate to Epic's game Fortnite.



Epic alleges that Broom and Vraspir not only cheated in Fortnite, but also assisted others in doing so on the website AddictedCheats.net.  When cheating themselves, Broom and Vraspir allegedly intentionally targeted Fortnite streamers (i.e. “stream sniping”) because, allegedly per Vrapsir, “its [sic] fun to rage and see streamers cry about how loaded they are and then get them stomped anyways.”  Epic’s complaints seem to suggest that Vraspir was particularly aggressive on cheating in Fortnite because he was banned from Fortnite: allegedly per Vraspir, his ban “unleash[ed] the beast” such that “Epic will have to take care or their game will die.”

Fortnite’s popularity in recent weeks has exploded since a recent free mode released which, some allege, provides a game mode duplicative of the massively popular PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.  Some speculated that Bluehole, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds’ developer, might explore a suit against Epic (indeed, Bluehole issued a public press release complaining about the similarities); however, Bluehole’s extensive reliance on Epic’s Unreal Engine 4 and ongoing licensing relationship with Epic makes such a suit seemingly unlikely.