MoreFun, the studio behind new first-person extraction shooter Arena Breakout: Infinite, has called Escape From Tarkov plagiarism claims “untrue”.
Arena Breakout: Infinite has received over a million wishlists on Steam following an ongoing beta launch and has become one of the most-watched games on Twitch this year.
However the team behind Escape From Tarkov have accused developers of plagiarism on a few occasions now.
The two studios first clashed following the launch of Escape From Tarkov’s controversial £215 Unheard edition, with MoreFun trying to scoop up disgruntled players. “Taking in all homeless shooter looter,” wrote the official Arena Breakout: Infinite X account while Tarkov’s account replied by saying: “Have a nice 20 minute adventure in the blatant plagiarist game. In and out.”
Have a nice 20 minute adventure in the blatant plagiarist game. In and out pic.twitter.com/DZe3A0I8Z4
— Battlestate Games (@bstategames) April 25, 2024
As the community notes explain “Video games cannot be sued for plagiarism for simply being a same or similar category or genre. BSG would need to prove that assets were taken from EFT and used directly in AB to begin legal claims of copyright infringement or plagiarism.”
Earlier this month, head of Battlestate Games Nikita Buyanov shared a series of images that seem to show code from Tarkov has been copied by another game, though he didn’t mention Arena Breakout: Infinite by name. “We wanted to keep it quiet but it’s up to you to decide if you would like to support this kind of thing and stick to the games that not only entre the genre but do not hesitate to copy what has been done,” he explained.
It’s been a rough couple of weeks.
We wanted to keep it quiet but it’s up to you to decide if you would like to support this kind of things and stick to the games that not only entre the genre but do not hesitate to copy what has been done.— Nikita Buyanov (@nikgeneburn) May 8, 2024
Another post implied that Escape From Tarkov weapons had also been copied, with Buyanov confirming that everything in their game had been created by Battlestate Games.
In a new interview with PCGamesN, MoreFun producer Yiming Sun responded to the plagiarism claims. “We respect the intellectual property rights of others and believe in the importance of IP protection,” he said. “The alleged copyright infringement is untrue.”
“Instead of getting caught up in the noise on social media, our current focus is ensuring the beta continues to run smoothly so that we receive player feedback and deliver the best game we can make,” he added.
In other news, Sony has confirmed God Of War Ragnarok is finally coming to PC, but players will need a PlayStation Network account.