The fight between Player Unknowns Battlegrounds (PUBG) and Fortnite Battle Royale for dominance in the massively popular battle royale genre has reached a new level with the PUBG division of developer Bluehole filing a lawsuit for copyright infringement against Fortnite developer Epic Games. In addition to being the target of a questionable lawsuit from a competitor, Fortnite is looking to make a big splash in the esports industry with a $100,000,000 prize pool and the E3 2018 Celebrity Pro-Am.
Game Talk Live discusses these topics, as host Mandie Roman is joined by an expert panel of guests, including esports journalist and consultant Rod "Slasher" Breslau, Inven Global journalist Nick D'orazio and esports lawyer Ryan Morrison.
With the recent decision by PUBG to sue Epic Games and Fortnite for copyright infringement, the video game community is questioning the legitimacy of the lawsuit and whether or not Bluehole has a legitimate case. The panel discusses how the copyright law in Korea, the region that the lawsuit is being filed in, is different from its North American counterpart and that the Korean Government will be involved in the punishment decision if Epic Games is found to be at fault of stealing assets from PUBG for Fortnite.
Each panelist also gives their thoughts and opinions on the negative precedent that could be set for the gaming industry if Bluehole is successful in its lawsuit against Epic Games and Fortnite, as it could allow for developers to gain complete control of game modes or genres. Game Talk Live explains how this would especially problematic for the esports industry, as only a select few multiplayer game modes and genres have proven to be successful, and a precedent like the one that could be set with PUBG's case against Fortnite could have very serious consequences for the development of new esports.
Topics also discussed include the public perception regarding PUBG's case against Fortnite, a lawyer's perspective and approach to working on this type of case, and how the majority of the video game community believes that this shouldn't be a legitimate case, but judges and laws that do not understand the gaming world could easily allow for this case to make its way through the legal system.
"If @EpicGames is found to be infringing in Korea, it’s very different than [the U.S.] In Korea, the government...help[s] with enforcement. They’ll ban people from being able to login to @FortniteGame." -@MrRyanMorrison, on @PUBG suing #Epic
— GameTalkLive (@GameTalkLive) June 1, 2018
Live Now: https://t.co/DS9zFk34zg pic.twitter.com/95V1ItJC13
Guests then move onto the topic of battle royale esports and what the genre needs in order to be successful and compete with the likes of other more established esports genres. With the high number of competitors playing at one time, spectating is often seen as one of the problems that has yet to be addressed for battle royale esports. While H1Z1 and PUBG look to be focused on the dynamic of having teams of four competing, Fortnite looks to be moving away from that strategy and could have its esports scene revolve around solo or duo competitions, as having less point of views to cover makes spectating an easier endeavor.
E3 2018 looks to be the next stop for competitive Fortnite events, as the Fortnite Celebrity Pro-Am Tournament promises to see 50 celebrities team up with 50 content creators and pro players to battle for a $3,000,000 charity prize pool. Game Talk Live discusses how Fortnite's less serious and fun focused approach to its competitive play could help its growth, as it focuses on what has helped esports as a whole grow into what it is today, and that is having fun watching and playing at the highest level. Calling upon the success that pro wrestling has seen with larger than life personalities, the panel discusses how seeing the likes of Tyler "Ninja" Belvins shooting Joel McHale across the map would be an extremely entertaining experience and worth watching as possibly opposed to a extremely serious environment.
Finally, each panelist gives their take on the massive $100,000,000 prize pool that Epic Games has pledged to fund competitive Fortnite events in 2018-2019 and how it has influenced organizations and professional esports players to decide to venture into the world of competitive Fortnite for a chance at a share of the millions of dollars up for grabs.
"@FortniteGame seems to want to go a slightly different direction [with #esports]. Duos seem to be the preferred option...Duos are much easier to follow because you only have two POVs." -@Slasher #fortnite #battleroyale
— GameTalkLive (@GameTalkLive) June 1, 2018
Watch Live: https://t.co/DS9zFk34zg pic.twitter.com/srC4T13Pni
This episode of Game Talk Live has wrapped up, but you can see it in its entirety in the video above. Be sure to catch the previous episode in which Game Talk Live discusses the multitude of rumors that have appeared in the video game industry ahead of E3 2018.
