Posted in: Apex Legends, Electronic Arts, Games, Video Games | Tagged: Apex Legends, BulletVille, ea games, Electronic Arts, NOWAA, Respawn Entertainment

Separated At Birth – Game Edition: Apex Legends & BulletVille

Published Thu, 21 Jan 2021 18:40:42 -0600

by Gavin Sheehan

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NOWAA, makers of the game BulletVille are none too pleased today as they believe that the latest Apex Legends character looks like one of their own. Over the past week, we've been seeing all the new content from Respawn Entertainment showing off their next character Fuse who will be added to Season 8 of the game on February 2nd. The company even released a new launch trailer this morning showing him off. However, the developers behind BulletVille feel that Fuse looks like their game's main character, Hunter. According to info the company sent info to members of the media today, NOWAA was approached by Respawn Entertainment parent company Electronic Arts to be a part of their EA Originals publishing program in early 2020 and took part in a few playtests with them in October 2020 when they had a playable build.

Coincidence? What do you think of the side-by-side comparison? Images courtesy of NOWAA and Respawn Entertainment.

We reached out to NOWAA about the issue and asked why they went public like this and what they intend to do, to which we received this quote from the company.

"We're not happy at all," says NOWAA's CEO and Lead Designer, Yohami Zerpa. "Our lawyer explained that if we send a cease and desist legal paper to EA, EA can counter sue and drain us on the courts. So what are our options? If we take this one sitting, what happens when the next big studio rips off another one of our characters? What if the next Apex Legends hero is our Willy Punch? Are we supposed to change our designs to avoid being called a ripoff when some big fish steals our ideas? The intent is to stop this from happening, we may lose this one, but we have to draw the boundary."

We reached out to Respawn and EA's PR reps for a quote on the matter but received no response at the time this was written. Season 8 is expected to move forward in Apex Legends two weeks from now.

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