Riot sues NetEase for copying of Valorant

Riot Games is suing Chinese publisher NetEase for a likely VALORANT clone. The creator of League of Legends and VALORANT claims that Hyper Front, NetEase’s shooter for cell phones, copies many fundamental aspects of VALORANT.

Now, Riot and NetEase could enter into several legal disputes in the coming weeks, as the developer of Valorant claims that the Chinese company has copied substantial parts of Valorant in a new game released for mobile devices: Hyper Front.

Riot sues NetEase

Riot Games has already filed its lawsuit against Chinese publisher NetEase for allegedly copying Valorant in the mobile shooter Hyper Front. Riot’s lawyers claim this is a cheap clone of one of the most popular shooters today.

The lawsuit has been filed in courts in different countries, including the UK, Germany, Brazil, and Singapore. This is to prevent NetEase from being able to distribute the game called Hyper Front, as well as requesting compensation for damages.

While it is true that Valorant is only available for PC, Riot plans to release a version for mobile devices in the future. In addition, strong rumors indicate that Valorant could be coming to consoles soon.

Statements by one of Riot’s lawyers

Riot Games lawyer Dan Nabel commented in a statement for Polygon:

“All of our creative choices are mirrored in NetEase’s game. We don’t think that changing the color of a character ability or slightly modifying the visual appearance changes the fact that it’s copyright infringement.”

Not the first time Riot has sued a rival company

Riot is used to sue different companies, especially in the Chinese region.

These lawsuits have been for copyright, demonstrating that they were clones, imitations, and counterfeits of both League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics.

Riot’s parent company, Tencent, has also won several lawsuits in China due to copies they have released of League of Legends.

Riot Games is in the habit of presenting extensive evidence in the lawsuits they apply, including screenshots of maps, characters, weapon skins, and many more allegations.

That’s why their lawsuits are almost always a sure win for them.

Tencent has also been in the eye of the storm

Riot Games is owned by Tencent, a Chinese tech company with equity stakes in quite a few companies all over the planet.

According to other reports, Tencent was accused of plagiarism in 2019 by Ace Force, as many saw similarities in Overwatch. That’s not to mention that the mobile game Let’s Hunt Monsters, also from Tencent, was accused of being a Pokemon Go clone.

This week will follow the course of this lawsuit. Still, Riot suing a publisher as famous as NetEase for allegedly copying Valorant on mobile devices doesn’t seem like something that will end overnight.

Header: Riot Games