Posted in: Games, Video Games | Tagged: Brendan Greene, entertainment, games, HRL, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, PUBG, PUBG Corp., video games

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds Developer Wants Better IP Protection from Copycats

Brendan "PlayerUnknown" Greene has stated that he hopes that games, like his own Battlegrounds, will see better protection from copycat ventures in the future.

The developer hit gold this year with the phenomenon that is PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. It has seen huge success, becoming one of, if not the most played PC game with the title just recently making the hop to consoles. Of course, with that, we've seen a lot of other games trying to jump onto that wagon, producing their own games in the Battle Royale genre. Famously, PUBG Corp. and Epic Games got into a bit of a PR tussle over Fortnite's Battle Royale mode that lifted a bunch of things from the Battlegrounds experience. Talking to BBC's Gaming Show and transcribed by Newsbeat, Greene said:

"I want this genre of games to grow. For that to happen you need new and interesting spins on the game mode. If it's just copycats down the line, then the genre doesn't grow and people get bored."

He added:

"In movies and music there is IP protection, and you can really look after your work. In gaming that doesn't exist yet, and it's something that should be looked into. Some amazing games pass under the radar, then someone else takes the idea, has a marketing budget, and suddenly has a popular game because they ripped off someone else's idea. I think it's something the industry needs to look into. You're protecting the work of artists basically. Games are art for a large part, and so I think it's important they're protected."

This is bound to be a bit of a contentious issue, as since the genre is so new, I don't think the line between "ripping off PUBG" and "genre staples" has been quite figured out yet. Also, everyone will have a different line for when something is "stealing" or "twisting" an idea. In these uncertain waters, it's hard to say where the line between "new spin" and "plagiarism" is. I have a feeling we are going to see this play out in pretty unique fashion. It's been some time since a new genre was brought into the mainstream eye so quickly and so massively. Seeing where the cards fall will certainly be interesting.

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