Riot Games sues Chinese tech giant NetEase for ‘copying’ Valorant

Riot Games, mainly known for the games League of Legends and Valorant, is suing the Chinese tech company NetEase because the game Hyper Front ‘copies substantial parts of Valorant’. This would include similarities in weapons, characters and maps.

Against Polygon says Dan Nabel, Riot Games’ attorney, that “all of our creative decisions are reflected in NetEase’s game.” The studio mentions several similarities. In addition to similar characters, maps, weapons, skins and charms, it would also concern the stats of weapons. After an initial complaint from Riot Games, NetEase adjusted the game slightly, but according to Riot not enough.

The charges were filed on October 21, but were not filed until December brought outside. Riot Games is taking the case to courts in the United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil and Singapore. Riot Games previously sued a Vietnamese game maker over a copy of League of Legends. Also PUBG Corp. NetEase previously accused two mobile games of infringing on PlayerUnknown’s: Battlegrounds.

Hyper Front is a free-to-play shooter for Android and iOS where teams of five compete against each other in different game modes. The game was released in July this year. Valorant was already released for PC in 2020 and Riot Games is now working on a mobile version. The game is seen as one of the most popular online multiplayer games of the moment.

Image: Riot Games / NetEase via Polygon