Apple, Google Sued Over Alleged 'Rainbow Six: Siege' Clone From Chinese Developer

Game developer and publisher Ubisoft filed a lawsuit in California federal court against Google and Apple over “Area F2,” an alleged Chinese clone of “Rainbow Six: Siege.” The game was made by Hong Kong-based mobile game developer Ejoy.com, a subsidiary of Chinese multinational tech company Alibaba.

“R6S is among the most popular competitive multiplayer games in the world, and is among Ubisoft’s most valuable intellectual properties,” Ubisoft said in the lawsuit acquired by Bloomberg. “Virtually every aspect of AF2 is copied from R6S, from the operator selection screen to the final scoring screen, and everything in between.”

“Ubisoft’s competitors are constantly looking for ways to piggyback on R6S’s popularity and to capture the attention, and money, of R6S players,” Ubisoft said.

“Rainbow Six: Siege” is a tactical first-person shooter multiplayer game from Ubisoft under the company’s Tom Clancy license that includes “Ghost Recon” and “Splinter Cell.” The game centers on the counterterrorist unit dubbed Rainbow and pits teams of five against either AI enemies or another team of five players in “situations” around the world.

Since launching in December 2015, the game has gained 55 million registered players across PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, and has fostered a competitive esports scene. The roster of playable of “operators” has also grown from 20 to 54; all based on real counterterrorism and special forces units from around the world, such as Germany’s GSG9, U.S. Navy SEALs, and Russia’s Spetsnaz.

Alibaba and Ejoy.com promoted “Area F2” as the “first CQB FPS on mobile” that features a varied selection of agents to play as with unique equipment and destructible environments. It has also been downloaded by over 5 million times from the Google Play Store.

Ubisoft argues that by Google and Apple selling “Area F2” on the Play Store and App Store, respectively, it infringes on Ubisoft’s existing copyrights and demand the game be taken down. However, both have refused to remove it from their stores.

Ubisoft’s sentiment is echoed by some commenters in the Google Play Store who cited the similarities between the two games.

“Being a Rainbow Six player I would like to say that this game feels like a free mobile version of Siege. I have already identified operators that are the same and those that are a mix of operators. For those of you who are siege players it is a free version of siege,” Google user The Cpt.Sniper01 wrote.

Another user was a bit harsher in their assessment.

“Reviewing this game is just a waste of time because it is a direct copy of Ubisoft's Rainbow Six Siege. Also the visual aspect (on screen buttons, Menu, HUD elements) I noticed are also a rip off from PUBG mobile. So there's nothing original in this game. This is the worst way of creating a video game,” Google user Vahe Sargsyan wrote.