Ubisoft sues Apple over Alibaba 'Rainbow Six' game clone in App Store
Apple and Google have become the targets of a lawsuit from game publisher Ubisoft, for allowing the sale of an alleged clone of a "Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six" game in the App Store produced by a subsidiary of Alibaba.
Area F2 (Ejoy/Alibaba)
In a lawsuit filed on Friday in a Los Angeles federal court, Ubisoft claims the game "Area F2" is a "near carbon copy" of its own game, "Rainbow Six: Siege," one that can't "seriously be disputed" by observers. The clone game makers are said to have kept it as close to the original as possible, with minimal efforts made to make it as legally different from Ubisoft's game as possible.
"Virtually every aspect of AF2 is copied from R6S," Ubisoft alleges in the lawsuit, as reported by Bloomberg, "from the operator selection screen to the final scoring screen, and everything in between."
The Rainbow Six series is a close-quarters battle game, a first-person shooter where teams of players must either storm a location and wipe out the enemy, or defend themselves from another team's storming attempt. Area F2 takes advantage of the lack of a mobile version of Ubisoft's PC and console game, offering similar gameplay but on a smaller screen.
"Ubisoft's competitors are constantly looking for ways to piggyback on R6S's popularity and to capture the attention, and money, of R6S players," the suit continues.
"Rainbow Six: Siege" is a major game for Ubisoft, with 55 million registered players globally and more than 3 million daily players. The game is also played in esports competitions, with professional teams taking each other on in tournaments for prizes stretching to millions of dollars.
AF2 is produced by Qookka Games, a trading name of developer Ejoy which was acquired by Alibaba in 2017. An unusual facet to the lawsuit is the target, as instead of going after Ejoy or Alibaba, Ubisoft is instead going after Apple and Google.
By attacking Apple and Google in court, it seems that Ubisoft is attempting to prevent the sale of the clone in their digital storefronts. AF2 became available to download from the App Store in April, following an extensive promotion campaign by Ejoy in late 2019.
Neither Alibaba, Google, nor Apple have commented on the lawsuit so far.
Area F2 (Ejoy/Alibaba)
In a lawsuit filed on Friday in a Los Angeles federal court, Ubisoft claims the game "Area F2" is a "near carbon copy" of its own game, "Rainbow Six: Siege," one that can't "seriously be disputed" by observers. The clone game makers are said to have kept it as close to the original as possible, with minimal efforts made to make it as legally different from Ubisoft's game as possible.
"Virtually every aspect of AF2 is copied from R6S," Ubisoft alleges in the lawsuit, as reported by Bloomberg, "from the operator selection screen to the final scoring screen, and everything in between."
The Rainbow Six series is a close-quarters battle game, a first-person shooter where teams of players must either storm a location and wipe out the enemy, or defend themselves from another team's storming attempt. Area F2 takes advantage of the lack of a mobile version of Ubisoft's PC and console game, offering similar gameplay but on a smaller screen.
"Ubisoft's competitors are constantly looking for ways to piggyback on R6S's popularity and to capture the attention, and money, of R6S players," the suit continues.
"Rainbow Six: Siege" is a major game for Ubisoft, with 55 million registered players globally and more than 3 million daily players. The game is also played in esports competitions, with professional teams taking each other on in tournaments for prizes stretching to millions of dollars.
AF2 is produced by Qookka Games, a trading name of developer Ejoy which was acquired by Alibaba in 2017. An unusual facet to the lawsuit is the target, as instead of going after Ejoy or Alibaba, Ubisoft is instead going after Apple and Google.
By attacking Apple and Google in court, it seems that Ubisoft is attempting to prevent the sale of the clone in their digital storefronts. AF2 became available to download from the App Store in April, following an extensive promotion campaign by Ejoy in late 2019.
Neither Alibaba, Google, nor Apple have commented on the lawsuit so far.
Comments
The problem I have with this is that Ubisoft haven't got a mobile version, so I'm not sure they've been ripped off.
On the other hand, a photograph of a painting is still a copy, if you're selling it.
Tricky.
Ubisoft is probably suing Apple and Google as distributors; due to copyright protection in the USA, Ubisoft has a strong case. Ubisoft could also go after Alibaba as the content producer's (copyright violator) parent. The copyright protection in China is not the same as here in the USA, would be a steeper hill litigation-wise for Ubisoft to climb.
Ubisoft is not going after Apple and Google just because they have lots of money. They are also doing it because of US copyright protection laws. The market cap difference between Apple, Alphabet and Alibaba isn't a discerning factor in Ubisoft's choice here.
As somebody said here earlier.. you Americans have a few strange things going on in your country.
Filing lawsuits costs money. Lawyers and time aren't free. A lawyer from Ubisoft likely sent a boilerplate cease-and-desist letter at some point as well.
both are using everyday items and not at creating any IP in characters tools weapons.
how is it clone?
They don’t trade on the name just the momentum and an unserviced market.
"Ubisoft said it has notified Apple and Google that Area F2 is infringing its copyrights but the companies have refused to remove the game from the Google Play and Apple App stores."
Presumably it will come down to whether they literally stole digital assets. As far as I know, you can't copyright level maps and the like.
It makes sense to let a court decide. Apple could get sued by the other company if they pull a game that isn't considered an illegal copy. The odd part is, why is Apple put in the position of defending this game. That should be the responsibility of the other publisher.
However, if this is true, well then it's quite a different story!
S H O C K E D
I don't think you guys read his comment correctly. Did you guys skip the "most" part?
I mean my neighbor has money but if Apple is involved who do you think will get fined?
They SO do this!!
Still don't understand how this is Apples fault haha. Must be Apples quarterly report and because everything is Apple's fault nowadays.