Epic Game’s Fortnite is now the most popular video game among all the youth in America. Kids have been playing the game constantly even though its still in a beta phase. However, what people don’t know is the context behind the game and where the origins of Fortnite came from. Fortnite is considered a Battle Royale video game, a new genre of shooters that have become incredibly popular recently. So popular that huge video game title Call of Duty picked up their own Battle Royale add-on called Blackout. Game studios have been adding the Battle Royale game mode to their own game with very few twists causing tension in the game market. The list of games that have now been added to a Battle Royale category is around twenty, but the focus is on Fortnite, PUBG, H1Z1, and Call of Duty’s Blackout.
The games are very similar to each other and it brings up an ethical question in the gaming market. Is it really ok to take someone’s concept of a game and make it your own? Now I am talking about Battle Royale games in this instance, but it happens all over the industry. Upon research in to the topic, I was able to find out that this has been going on since video games have been created. Pong, one of the oldest games known to man was a rip off of Magnavox’s table tennis game. Atari was sued, and a 700,000$ settlement was made to Magnavox. Nintendo swooped in to block a game called The Great Giana Sisters because it was a direct copy of Super Mario Bros. The game didn’t have goombas, but instead had owls. The game was removed from the stores and was not able to sell any more copies. N.O.V.A was a copy of Halo, and the list could go on forever.
Battle Royale games are the newest addition to these lists. The origin of Battle Royale games starts from a Japanese book called “Battle Royale.” The book puts 27 students onto an island where they must fight to survive against each other. If they step into forbidden zones the metal collars they are wearing will blow up. The playing area gets smaller and smaller until one person is left alive. This book was then adapted into a movie called, “Battle Royale”, which is the same concept of the book. After the release of the film we see a similar movie released a decade later. “Battle Royale is a stepping stone of inspiration-okay, a lot of stepping stones, a full-blown foundation perhaps- for “The Hunger Games” (BuisnessInsider.com). “Battle Royale” was a help in the foundation of Battle Royale games, but little to no credit was given to the book or the film.
Breaking down the similarities and difference between the four Battle Royale games I have stated would take a long time, so I will just stick to the similarities. Every game has no respawns, so if you die you are out of the game. Every game listed has a safe zone and that zone gets increasingly smaller and smaller. Every game has weapons you must scavenge for and armor you can pick up to protect yourself. To win the game you must be last alive. These topics are key concepts to not only the games, but to the “Battle Royale” novel and Film. It is certainly unjust that people can not only rip off each other’s video games, but the main concept itself comes from a movie that many people don’t even know exists.
Another ethical dilemma is that of commercialization. Each game, movie, or novel I have talked about in this blog has commercialized its product. How can they ethically do that though? When something is commercialized it is said to be “a new product on the market”. Each one of these games has just been a rip off of an old novel and thus makes them not new. They have literally plagiarized each other and called it their own. PUBG went on to try and sue Fortnite, but they eventually dropped the lawsuit. How can they even sue when they themselves have copied something without giving it credit?
In conclusion, all of these games are very similar, but not similar enough to bring in legal action. They all have the same concept and they all market their product at different prices. Fortnite is free and that is why it is the most popular of the four, but in no way should it be deemed greater than the others. All of these gaming companies are ethically immoral and I feel sorry for the writer of “Battle Royale”. If there is one thing I have learned is that the gaming industry is full of rip offs and we are just suspect to buying the same games with different titles.
References
Acuna, Kirsten. “Here’s Why ‘The Hunger Games’ Is Not ‘Battle Royale’.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 3 Apr. 2012, http://www.businessinsider.com/the-hunger-games-is-not-battle-royale-despite-many-similarities-2012-4#battle-royale-is-a-punishment-solely-for-bad-school-children-2.
Grayson, Nathan. “A History of Gaming’s Most Shameless Rip-Offs.” IGN, IGN, 28 Feb. 2012, http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/02/28/a-history-of-gamings-most-shameless-rip-offs.
Robbie Pratka 