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| NCSOFT CEO Kim Taek-jin, left, and Kakao Games CEO Cho Kye-hyun / Courtesy of the companies |
By Baek Byung-yeul
NCSOFT, a South Korean video game developer, has filed a lawsuit against the makers of the mobile role-playing game ArcheAge War, claiming that they infringed upon the copyright of its mobile game Lineage 2M, according to the company, Thursday.
NCSOFT, widely known for its Lineage RPG franchise, said it filed the lawsuit for copyright infringement and unfair competition with Seoul Central District Court against the game's publisher Kakao Games and developer XL Games on Wednesday.
"NCSOFT confirmed that ArcheAge War, released by Kakao Games and XL Games on March 21, imitated numerous features and systems from NCSOFT's flagship game Lineage 2M," the game company said in a statement.
The company further noted it decided to file the lawsuit as part of efforts to protect its intellectual property, which the company said it developed after conducting research activities over a long period.
"NCSOFT is determined that ArcheAge War has unlawfully copied and plagiarized NCSOFT's intellectual property beyond the similarity of the genre," the company added.
Regarding the case, Kakao Games said it will give an official statement after confirming the petition.
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| A poster for Kakao Games' ArcheAge War / Courtesy of Kakao Games |
Released in November 2019, Lineage 2M is a mobile version of the company's popular PC online game Lineage 2, which was launched in 2003. Lineage 2M has gained popularity by providing high-quality graphics and background music and offering gamers the experience of becoming a warrior in the fantasy world.
Launched last month, ArcheAge War is also gaining popularity, having ranked high in the sales charts of mobile app markets. The game, which can also be played on PC, drew attention before its launch because of XL Games CEO Jake Song, who served a major role in the creation of Lineage in the late 1990s.
However, some gamers have raised issues that the game system of the new mobile game such as the user environment design and weapon enhancement system are too similar to Lineage 2M.
Some users pointed out the many similarities between the two games, saying that they refer to Lineage 2M for how to grow their game characters in ArcheAge War.
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