French gaming company Ubisoft filed a lawsuit last Friday against Google and Apple for selling Area F2, which it claims to be a clone of its hit title Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege. The news come from a Bloomberg report, which quotes Ubisoft as saying that “virtually every aspect of AF2 is copied from R6S, from the operator selection screen to the final scoring screen, and everything in between.” You can spot the similarities by yourself in the gameplay video below from the official Area F2 YouTube channel:

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Area F2 was developed by Ejoy.com, which e-commerce giant Alibaba acquired in 2017. However, Ubisoft is suing Google and Apple for hosting the game on their storefronts as filing a copyright infringement claim against Ejoy.com could be more challenging as the company is located in China. Pulling it from Google Play and the Apple Store would thus deprive Area F2’s developer from significant revenue but the game could still be side-loaded.

UPDATE:

Speaking to Kotaku, Ubisoft has confirmed that it is dropping the lawsuit against Apple and Google following Ejoy's termination of Area F2.

SOURCE, UPDATE

 

[LightBeam]

I was making a joke.

myB

 

[Vi3trice]

https://www.facebook.com/AreaF2/posts/172884004181577

Area F2 are shutting down and going back to the drawing board, so to speak.

 

[RedBlueGreen]

I'm a bit surprised they actually shut it down, rather than resorting to APK files. I'm not sure if Google and Apple made them take the game down (since there are so many other shameless rip offs).

COD Mobile pretty much killed all of the other free to play FPS games anyway.

If they're actually taking it down to remake it, maybe they should keep the destructible environments and make it something more like a deathmatch FPS, or have something more like Demolition or whatever the bomb mode is in Call of Duty but without using drones to find the bomb and no fortifying windows and doors with planks. Or do the one life thing similarly to CS:GO where it's a much more generic military shooter, and not a 5v5 hero shooter with drones and destructible environments and boarding off doors and windows.

 

[Tamunya]

Rainbow Six always has one of the most toxic communities I've seen but I'm glad Ubisoft is doing this. It's time to stop these copy-pastes, and it's not the first time... but then again, Ubisoft is not innocent.

 

[Prans]

Ubisoft dropped the lawsuit against Apple & Google following Area F2's termination. The original post has been updated accordingly.

 

[Arras]

Google and Apple didn't make this. Suing store owners because they sell a product you don't like (even if for valid reasons) is a bad precedent to set.

There's a difference between "I don't like this product" and "this product should not legally be allowed to be exist". The only reason it's done through Google and Apple is because suing a Chinese company is practically impossible.

 

[Something whatever]

They should have made the game in China, then they wouldnt have any issues

 

[call me Ken or Accel]

They should have made the game in China, then they wouldnt have any issues

What logic is that? Ubisoft is a company that was established in France (as pointed in the thread). Did you even read?
If they want to sue something directly, they have either to use France's law or China's law (obviously Im not a lawyer, so what Im saying very possible be completely wrong)


----
Anyway, this is one of the more blatant rip-offs in Google Play/Apple Store, but Im still baffled in how the hell people play FPS with goddamn touchscreen. Its the most cancerous thing ever. I would rather actually die than being tied up and forced to play a FPS game on a touchscreen device

 

[Xzi]

Ubisoft dropped the lawsuit against Apple & Google following Area F2's termination. The original post has been updated accordingly.

Well I'll be damned, I was wrong. I guess it makes sense they no longer have any basis for suing Apple and Google without the app remaining on their respective storefronts. Yet another Chinese IP thief gets away basically scot-free.

 

[Something whatever]

(Jk) don't think so hard about it

What logic is that? Ubisoft is a company that was established in France (as pointed in the thread). Did you even read?
If they want to sue something directly, they have either to use France's law or China's law (obviously Im not a lawyer, so what Im saying very possible be completely wrong)


----
Anyway, this is one of the more blatant rip-offs in Google Play/Apple Store, but Im still baffled in how the hell people play FPS with goddamn touchscreen. Its the most cancerous thing ever. I would rather actually die than being tied up and forced to play a FPS game on a touchscreen device

 

[ArugulaZ]

Wait wait wait. Doesn't Ubisoft own Gameloft, the mobile game developer that makes rip-offs of all your favorite console games? God of War had Hero of Sparta, Burnout has Asphalt, Halo has NOVA, Modern Warfare has Modern Combat, etc. They've got some nerve suing over someone else's derivative work.

 

[Hambrew]

yep copyright is broken in the USA AND in China

 

[smf]

Rainbow Six always has one of the most toxic communities I've seen but I'm glad Ubisoft is doing this. It's time to stop these copy-pastes, and it's not the first time... but then again, Ubisoft is not innocent.

Right, all games are derivative of games from 40 years ago. They should all be banned and we should go back to single color games.

 

[call me Ken or Accel]

(Jk) don't think so hard about it

Ok then

Wait wait wait. Doesn't Ubisoft own Gameloft, the mobile game developer that makes rip-offs of all your favorite console games? God of War had Hero of Sparta, Burnout has Asphalt, Halo has NOVA, Modern Warfare has Modern Combat, etc. They've got some nerve suing over someone else's derivative work.

I wouldnt say those games you said are rip-offs. They are different enough. More like popularity wagon rider
This case is different. UI, HUD and maps are direct copypaste from R6Siege. The characters are slightly different (they have different looking tools but they basically function the same as in R6Siege)

 

[snobbysteven]

Well, I now fully expect siege to come out to mobile. They just showed Ubisoft that this game could easily come to mobile. Id play it on mobile. But with it being Ubisoft, their actual version of a siege mobile game would probably be worse than this knock off Lol.

 

[cagycee]

There are tons of Knock offs on the app and playstore. Why specifically this one?

cuz apple and google haz moneyz so why notz.


*note* I know that I used incorrect grammar and spelling. Don't flip.

 

[Tamunya]

Right, all games are derivative of games from 40 years ago. They should all be banned and we should go back to single color games.

if that's what you want to believe, sure.

 

[smf]

if that's what you want to believe, sure.

I obviously don't believe they should be banned. But you can find lots of examples of similarities between games and those that came before them, rainbow six included. You either accept it, or you ban them all until someone can come up with a unique concept for a game. Something that doesn't use either 2d or 3d graphics for example.

 

[CanIScream]

huh, I thought every shooter game is basically the same

Everyone sues everyone!

 

[LuxerWap]

Wait wait wait. Doesn't Ubisoft own Gameloft, the mobile game developer that makes rip-offs of all your favorite console games? God of War had Hero of Sparta, Burnout has Asphalt, Halo has NOVA, Modern Warfare has Modern Combat, etc. They've got some nerve suing over someone else's derivative work.

I can answer those easily.

No, Unisoft never owned Gameloft. Gameloft was founded by one of Unisoft’s co-worker when he retired, so it’s more of a sister to them. They have partnered in the past by releasing licensed Ubisoft games on mobile, but ever since their partnership, Vivendi saw their sucess and wanted to claim them. They managed to snatch up Gameloft and it pissed of the founder since he was too late to stop them, so he left Gameloft to back to working with Ubisoft to protect them from being taken by Vivendi.

Gameloft was known for making clones of sucessful games like Call of Duty, Halo, Diablo, and Grand Theft Auto, and they were really great during that era, but over time, they gotten a lot worse when Vivendi took over. Forced microtransactions like timed loot crates and an energy system. Impossible to complete and unlock everything. Gameloft still makes quality games, but the horrible balance of microtransactions unfortunately kills them.

But we’re talking about Area F2. I want to point out that while Gameloft games are clones of their console/PC counterparts, they’re not completely ripoffs since they do have their own story, characters, weapons, etc. Area F2 is a shot by shot ripoff. The UI, characters, maps, almost everything looks exactly like Siege. It’s literally Siege Mobile, something you never usually hear when it comes to Modern Combat or Gangstar. Because of this, it gained a lot of popularity and Ubisoft didn’t like it cause the team stole 99% of their game.

I’m now glad that the team are reworking the game. QTB shooters are needed in the mobile market and Area F2 was there to entertain us, which it did. I had a lot of fun with it. But I couldn’t never respect the game cause it’s just a stolen Siege. Now that they’re reworking the game, I love to see they’ll bring in. Hopefully, not another shot to shot ripoff.