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Riot Games' Valorant has become the cornerstone of competitive esports over the last few years. Unfortunately, success can also bring its share of problems. Riot's tussle with NetEase is the latest example of that, with the former accusing the latter's first-person shooter Hyper Front of being a copy of Valorant.
This isn't the first time a gaming giant has been embroiled in a controversy involving copyright infringements. When Moonton released Mobile Legends Bang Bang, it was taken to court over copying several aspects of League of Legends. After much discussion and drama, Moonton ultimately had to pay a hefty penalty to settle the dispute.
In this regard, things don't seem to have changed much for Riot Games, as it aims to protect another valuable IP. The developers believe NetEase has copied the general format and found "inspiration" in its character and map design, among other things. As reported by Law360, there are multiple grounds for copyright infringement.
Comparing the two games highlights some interesting and quite easily noticeable similarities. Both games pit two teams of five players against each other across different objectives, but that's not where the similarities end. Riot has accused NetEase of copying several items from an early build of Valorant that was released in October 2019.
Incidentally, it was the community that had first pointed out the strong similarities between the two titles. While Hyper Front did release in a limited fashion, many gamers felt clear similarities on several fronts with Valorant.
Riot Games has raised the query in England and Wales for the time being and will follow the same action in other countries. The fresh news won't go down well for either Hyper Front or NetEase. The Chinese company is also embroiled in similar lawsuits against PUBG developer Krafton.
Community reactions to Riot Games suing NetEase for copying Valorant
Redditor Zyrobe made an interesting comment about the news and wondered why NetEase was copying Valorant in the first place. They feel Hyper Front has enough to establish its own identity and not depend on merely copying assets from other games.
Another Redditor, Blinklegendary182, believes NetEase wants to ride on Valorant's success without investing in its own unique formula. This isn't unheard of in the world of video games, where many developers often copy successful titles.
Redditor Slaucsap feels the lack of a good option for mobile players has resulted in games like Hyper Front becoming so popular. Riot Games is developing a mobile version of Valorant, but it's unclear when it will be released.
Anti-gen claims that it's not going to matter for NetEase as long as Hyper Front becomes popular. They brought up the example of Mobile Legends Bang Bang, a market leader despite many calling it a copy of League of Legends.
It remains to be seen how the case will proceed from this point onward. While the earlier lawsuit against Moonton was dismissed in the U.S., Riot Games and Tencent won in China. NetEase may have to tread fine lines if it wants to come away unscathed from this case.
