Earlier this month, developer Epic Games announced a Battle Royale mode for its game Fortnite, and as it turns out, the makers of that other Battle Royale game aren’t too thrilled.




In a press release this morning, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds developer Bluehole took a shot at Epic Games, calling out Fortnite for cloning the 100-man PVP gameplay style with its upcoming free update ‘Battle Royale.’

“We’ve had an ongoing relationship with Epic Games throughout PUBG’s development as they are the creators of [Unreal Engine 4], the engine we licensed for the game,” Bluehole vice president Chang Han Kim said in the press release. “After listening to the growing feedback from our community and reviewing the gameplay for ourselves, we are concerned that Fortnite may be replicating the experience for which PUBG is known.”


And he kept going: “We have also noticed that Epic Games references PUBG in the promotion of Fortnite to their community and in communications with the press. This was never discussed with us and we don’t feel that it’s right.”

This may be a reference to Epic creative director Donald Mustard’s note on the PlayStation Blog, in which he wrote: “We love Battle Royale games like PUBG and thought Fortnite would make a great foundation for our own version.”

Bluehole’s Kim closed the press release with the ominous note that he and his company plan to “contemplate further action.”

This is some good drama. One might even say that both companies just jumped off a plane into a big battlefield, and that the last one standing will win.