Published , by Donovan Erskine
Published , by Donovan Erskine
Ubisoft’s Rainbow Six: Siege has become one of the most popular first-person shooters in the world since it was initially released for PC and consoles back in 2015. In spite of its rocky launch, Ubisoft’s dedication to Siege has helped it grow into one of the biggest multiplayer titles available. With this success comes those trying to cash in on it and make a quick buck. In comes “Area F2”, a close-quarters shooter recently released on iOS and Android devices. Developed under Alibaba, the similarities between Area F2 and Rainbow Six: Siege are alarming - to say the least.
Originally reported by Bloomberg, Ubisoft has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Apple Inc. and Google LLC for distributing Area F2 in their digital stores. Ubisoft’s lawsuit claims that Area F2 is a “near carbon copy” of Rainbow Six: Siege. Area F2 is being marketed as “The first CQB FPS on mobile” on its App Store page. The game has already picked up quite the momentum, as it currently stands as the #4 strategy game on Apple’s App store.
Ubisoft’s lawsuit goes into further detail, claiming that the entire Area F2 experience has been directly lifted from Rainbow Six: Siege. They go on to state that “Ubisoft’s competitors are constantly looking for ways to piggyback on R6S’s popularity and to capture the attention, and money, of R6S players.” Another major component to the lawsuit was the amount of success Ubisoft has seen from Siege, detailing the games 55 million registered players and professional esports league.
The lawsuit was filed on Friday May 15 in a federal court in Los Angeles. At this time, there has been no comment on the matter from Apple, Google, or Alibaba.