Riot Games to sue NetEase over Valorant ‘copy’

Popular publisher Riot Games is suing Hyper Front's mobile game developer NetEase for copying their successful PC title, Valorant. The company has filed lawsuits in several countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil, and Singapore, as revealed by Riot Games lawyer Dan Nabel to Polygon.

The lawsuits vary slightly from one country to another depending on their respective copyright legislation, but, according to Nabel, they have all been filed on the basis of Hyper Front being a "copy of substantial parts of Valorant," as specified by Riot's lawyers in the UK filing.

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Riot games accuses NetEase of replicating Valorant's in-game elements in Hyper Front

The American video game publisher claimed that NetEase has copied features, characters, weapons, maps, and other in-game items from Valorant in Hyper Front, which was launched earlier this year for Android and iOS devices. The mobile game was titled "Project M" during its beta phase testing in 2021.

Nabel told Polygon,

"All of our creative choices are mirrored in NetEase’s game. We don’t think that changing the color of a character ability or slightly modifying the visual appearance changes 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.'"

Riot Games is going the legal route to force NetEase to shut down Hyper Front. The company also claimed "substantial” damages but did not specify any figures.

Nabel further stated,

"We don’t want to rely on one particular market to have this issue resolved. NetEase is a global publisher, as are we. We want them to know that we take the matter very seriously."

This is not the first time NetEase has been sued for copyright infringement. Previously, Krafton filed a lawsuit against them in US District Court for copying several elements of PUBG in Knives Out and Rules of Survival games.

Since its launch, Hyper Front has generated more than 1 million downloads and even hosted a few regional tournaments. The title recently concluded the Elite Cup contest in the America region, which featured a total prize pool of $50K and was won by Furious Gaming.

Riot Games' upcoming game Valorant Mobile is currently under development, and it is predicted to revolutionize the mobile gaming industry. The free-to-play shooter game is expected to release in 2023. Going by the previously leaked gameplay, the mobile version will share many similarities with the PC version.

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Valorant was launched for Microsoft Windows on June 2, 2020, and has gained immense popularity since. Boasting a massive fan base and impressive revenue, the game has conducted several major esports events with gigantic prize pools.

With mobile gaming becoming more advanced by the day, the publisher decided to launch the mobile port of Valorant. The development was officially confirmed by the company for the first time in June 2021, creating a lot of excitement among mobile gamers.