Blizzard and Chinese partner NetEase have won a lawsuit against a company found to have copied elements of Overwatch in two of its games.
Chinese publisher 4399 Network’s mobile game Clash of Fighters and online title Gunplay Battlefront were both found to have infringed on copyrights forBlizzard’s team-based shooter.
According to a Shine report, the Pudong New Area People’s Court ruled on Wednesday that the titles in question copied elements ofOverwatchincluding character design, gameplay and maps.
4399 Network had argued that Blizzard didn’t own the elements it claimed rights over as they were also present in other previous games. And while there might be similarities between its games and Blizzard’s, 4399 Network claimed its products were original developments.
The court awarded Blizzard andNetEase4 million yuan ($569,000).
In August,Blizzard sued Chinese company Sina Gamesfor alleged infringement of its intellectual property, claimingPCand mobile game Glorious Saga was a “blatant Warcraft knock-off”.
Blizzard announced Overwatch 2 at BlizzCon 2019 earlier this month. Original Overwatch players will be able to play on all the same maps asOverwatch 2players, with progression and cosmetics carrying over to the sequel.
Overwatch 2 directorJeff Kaplanhas said it was“very challenging” to convince Activision Blizzard managementto approve giving owners of the original game sequel content for free.
He’s also suggested theOverwatch 2 release datecould be more than a year away.
