Riot Games prepares to take NetEase to court. The point of contention is Hyper Front, a mobile shooter that has been literally copied from Valorant , one of the many projects of the US development team that has known fame and glory thanks to League of Legends . In reality, the story is not very complex, given that the NetEase product really practically resembles a good part of the Riot game.
A Riot Games lawyer had the opportunity to speak with colleagues from Polygon in thanks to this choice. “All of the creative choices from Valorant have been replicated in the NetEase game. We don't think that changing the colors of a character's ability or slightly modifying other small elements is not copyright infringement." And it's actually hard to blame this version: HypeFront looks like a mobile version of Riot Games' game, which has been in development for several years now but hasn't been released yet.
The documentation provided by Riot Games analyzes HypeFront in one very important aspect: we speak, of course, of different elements of the game. We go from the maps to the characters, up to the skins of the weapons. In short, more than a game inspired by many tactical shooters, it literally looks like a carbon copy of the original.
Despite the many similarities, NetEase will certainly not stand by and watch. The Chinese company is in fact one of the largest operating in this sector, with various productions under its belt, even with decidedly interesting partnerships such as the one with Marvel and the Harry Potter rights holders. In short, the battle in court seems to be obvious. And the outcome, although the evidence is in favor of Riot Games, may not be so obvious. Continue to follow Game Division for all the news and upcoming announcements from the world of video games.
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