PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds certainly can’t claim to have been the progenitor of the Battle Royale format, but this doesn’t mean that the developers and publisher have no rights to certain aspects of the game itself. That’s why PUBG Corp. hasn’t sued Fortnite Battle Royale just yet, but it is filing a lawsuit against a copycat that went a little too far.
The progenitor of the Chicken Dinner prize trend is suing the Chinese video game company, NetEase, the developer of mobile games like Rules of Survival and Knives Out. Anyone who has been visiting gaming channels on YouTube would have likely seen ads for these games at some point and noticed how embarrassingly similar they are to PUBG. PUBG Corp. noticed this too, hence the lawsuit, Ars Technica reports.
Just for some context on just how far NetEase went to copy PUBG, it’s not just a 100-player Battle Royale game on an island where the players are dropped from a plane and parachute into, and then fight to survive until the last one standing while an ever-shrinking dome forces everyone to a certain spot. The look, feel, and even gameplay mechanics all copy PUBG.
Its only real difference from the PC and Xbox One version before the official PUBG Mobile game came out is the controls. All in all, PUBG Corp. listed about 25 items that it considers as copyright infringements.
Many of them can be argued are not specific to PUBG, such as the pre-match lobby. However, 100 players specifically jumping out of an airplane to parachute into an island does seem particularly PUBG.
The most astonishing aspect of the lawsuit, however, is the part about NetEase’s use of the iconic “Winner winner chicken dinner” that has become practically synonymous with PUBG in order to market its copycat mobile games. Even in the best case scenario, this can be considered a clever use of a recognizable phrase that could still constitute a violation.
As a result of these supposed infringements, PUBG Corp. is asking the courts to force NetEase to pay for damages and to have the games banned from operation.


Mizuho Raises Broadcom Price Target to $450 on Surging AI Chip Demand
Nvidia Develops New Location-Verification Technology for AI Chips
Australia Enforces World-First Social Media Age Limit as Global Regulation Looms
SpaceX Reportedly Preparing Record-Breaking IPO Targeting $1.5 Trillion Valuation
iRobot Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Amid Rising Competition and Tariff Pressures
Trump’s Approval of AI Chip Sales to China Triggers Bipartisan National Security Concerns
Trello Outage Disrupts Users as Access Issues Hit Atlassian’s Work Management Platform
Australia’s Under-16 Social Media Ban Sparks Global Debate and Early Challenges
Apple App Store Injunction Largely Upheld as Appeals Court Rules on Epic Games Case
Microsoft Unveils Massive Global AI Investments, Prioritizing India’s Rapidly Growing Digital Market
Evercore Reaffirms Alphabet’s Search Dominance as AI Competition Intensifies
EssilorLuxottica Bets on AI-Powered Smart Glasses as Competition Intensifies
SpaceX Insider Share Sale Values Company Near $800 Billion Amid IPO Speculation
EU Court Cuts Intel Antitrust Fine to €237 Million Amid Long-Running AMD Dispute
Moore Threads Stock Slides After Risk Warning Despite 600% Surge Since IPO 



