fbpx

Riot Sues NetEase for Hyper Front’s Infringement

Share This Post

Another day, another lawsuit. First it was Moonton, and now it is NetEase’s turn to face a legal battle from Riot Games.

Riot Games, developer of League of Legends and Valorant, is suing Chinese publisher NetEase for copyright infringement in the tactical first-person shooter game Hyper Front. Riot claims that Hyper Front is nothing more than a pale imitation of Valorant.

Riot has filed lawsuits worldwide, from the UK to Germany, Brazil and even Singapore. They are seeking “substantial damages”, although a figure has not been publicly specified. The main focus in these filings is the similarities between the two games in terms of characters, maps, weapons, weapon skins… the list just goes on. Riot’s lawyers cited a “copy of substantial parts” of Valorant in Hyper Front. 

To be fair, these concerns of infringement aren’t exactly unfounded. First off, Hyper Front is a 5v5 shooter game, just like Valorant. Beyond that, there are similarities in certain characters, which Riot previously highlighted. Even upon its initial release, there was already speculation that a lawsuit was on the way due to the games looking similar, making this lawsuit seem long overdue.

Images from Polygon

Following these statements, NetEase initially made changes to Hyper Front to appease Riot. However, Riot claims that these changes were merely superficial and do not take away from the plagiarism at the core of the game.

This isn’t the only time Riot Games has been in court in recent memory. Just earlier this year in November, a suit against Mobile Legends: Bang Bang developer Moonton Technology was dismissed in California. This lawsuit was also for copyright infringement but does not seem to be progressing in Riot’s favour. Riot claimed that Moonton copied League of Legends and Wild Rift, specifically characters and artwork. Sounds familiar.

Leading up to the dismissal, the judge mentioned that the case should have been taking place in China, due to Riot Games’ parent company Tencent. It seems that Riot has learned from this by filing in multiple territories worldwide. They must be pretty determined to secure that money.

+ posts

More Like This

Champion Last Year, Relegated This Year: Why It’s So Hard to Stay at the Top in Esports

When you think of sporting champions, names like Roger...

Meme Monday: Lighten(ing) your mood with these Neon memes

It’s been a few weeks since the release of Valorant’s newest agent, Neon, and she’s been a blast to play with (and against.) Naturally, a character as fun as Neon will breed memes equally as electrifying. Here are some Neon memes that are guaranteed to strike your funny bone.

Meme Monday: You’ve seen the Spider-Verse, now get ready for the Riot-Verse

It’s only midway through January and Riot is already treating us well with the release of two new characters: Neon from Valorant and Zeri from League of Legends (LOL). Even better, Neon is canonically Filipino, a huge win for Southeast Asian gamers! But we, like the rest of the internet, are seeing double – Neon and Zeri are practically the same person. Case in point: They are voiced by the same Filipino voice actress, have very similar abilities and look basically identical. We can’t help but think that Riot is trying to hint at something…a Riot multiverse, perhaps? It won’t be too far-fetched, since crossovers between both games have happened and Valorant’s storyline literally revolves around a second Earth from another universe. Alright, that’s enough speculation. This Meme Monday, we bring you PROOF of the Riot-Verse. Well, kinda.

Behold the multiverse theory! Neon and Zeri: one and the same?

The term ‘multiverse’ has been thrown left and right a lot lately. It’s been the talk of the town. While most have heard about this from the ever-growing Marvel franchise, gamers have noticed a similar happening in the esports scene.

I am Female. I AM also ESPORTS!

Firstly, yes, I am female. Yes, I have a masculine name. I love playing FPS games, especially team based ones like Overwatch and Valorant, which often require team communication in order to win. However, I rarely talk. Why? Because I am female. Just look up videos talking about or showing the female gaming experience on YouTube and you’ll know exactly why. Rude remarks, people making a big fuss just because I sound like a girl and people blaming me for doing badly solely because of my gender and not because of my lack of skill. The list goes on.

2021 was a bit of a Riot, will it continue?

As we make our first steps into 2022, we look back at 2021 as Riot Games managed to keep us sane during tough times. Eat your heart out Blizzard-Activision because Riot Games are coming up with new things one game at a time while you only rely on nostalgia trips and scrape the bottom of the barrel.
- Advertisement -