Claws out for Korea’s copycat game industry after Lineage M ruling

Games & Webtoons

Published: 22 Aug. 2023, 17:04

Claws out for Korea’s copycat game industry after Lineage M ruling

A poster for Webzen's mobile massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG) R2M [WEBZEN]

In Korea's game industry, the "Lineage Like” category refers to copycat games strongly reminiscent of the popular Lineage game franchise developed by NCSoft.

However, this copycat industry is under threat as one of the "Lineage Like" games has run into legal difficulties.

Last week, the Seoul Central District Court ruled in favor of Seongnam-based NCSoft after it filed a copyright infringement suit against smaller rival Webzen for its mobile game, R2M.

In June 2021, NCSoft sued Webzen for imitating its popular massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG) Lineage M, released in June 2017. Webzen’s R2M, a mobile version of its existing desktop game R2, was released in August 2020.

The court did not accept that NCSoft’s game system and rules — which the plaintiff claimed the defendant had imitated — were NCSoft’s creative copyright as they were adapted from Blizzard Entertainment’s MMORPG World of Warcraft released in 2005.

However, it did accept that Lineage M’s system is a trademark with economic value that should be protected by the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act. The court also accepted NCSoft’s claims that R2M’s system closely resembled that of Lineage M. For instance, Lineage M’s game system provides different advantages for the players’ characters in different levels via a powerful goddess named Ainhasad, similar to R2M’s bonus system.

The court took into consideration the fact that NCSoft has spent more than 100 billion won ($74.8 million) to develop Lineage M since 2015 and sided with the company to rule that Webzen infringed upon NCSoft’s economic profit.

The court ruled that Webzen should compensate NCSoft with 1 billion won and halt services related to R2M.

“Under the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act, IPs without unique creativity of their own are still protected if it is shown that considerable effort went into developing the IP, which is unlike the Copyright Act,” said attorney Lee Kwang-wook of the law firm Yoon & Yang.

A poster for NCSoft's MMORPG Lineage M [NCSOFT]

R2M is one of the many games referred to as “Lineage Like.” Such games have formed a category of their own within the mobile game industry amid intensifying competition in the market. In 2021 alone, a total of 952,185 mobile games were released in Google Play and the Apple App Store, according to the Game Rating & Administration Committee. Such an expansion of mobile games means that companies opt to go for the safe choice of creating games mimicking the style and format of a popular release to maximize appeal.

Lineage M has become a steady seller and regular cash cow for NCSoft, accumulating revenue of 5 trillion won since its release. Its popularity led NCSoft to release follow-up games such as Lineage2M and Lineage M — but other game companies followed suit. Many other “Lineage Like” titles popped up to the point where NCSoft’s Chief Financial Officer Hong Won-jun declared that “due to the multiplying of ‘Lineage Like’ games on the market, it’s affecting revenues for Lineage M” at an online conference call earlier this month.

Webzen filed an appeal on the day the court verdict came out on Friday.

“We will swiftly take legal measures so that the service of R2M is not halted,” wrote Park Gwang-yeop, head of Webzen’s game business division on Webzen’s website.

If NCSoft does request Webzen to suspend its service, the latter is planning to apply for a stay of execution. However, an immediate blow to revenue is evident as users threaten to leave the game after the news of the possibility of suspension. Many gamers left comments such as wanting a refund or they will not spend any more money in online communities.

NCSoft will also appeal to the court verdict to raise its litigation sum “as the compensation we requested covers only part of the damage.” The court estimated that R2M posted some $79.39 million in accumulated revenue.

Industry sources say that the court verdict will lead to a shift in the landscape, likely to result in a fall of copycat games that imitate existing popular titles in the future.

“It seems likely that game publishers’ legal teams will tighten regulations to screen the similarities between different game IPs in the future,” a source from a game publisher said.

A statement was uploaded on Webzen's website on Friday assuring users of R2M that game services will not be suspended. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Companies are taking a more active stance to protect popular franchises.

NCSoft also filed a lawsuit against Kakao Games and subsidiary XL Game for alleged copyright infringement of its Lineage2M online game.

A total of 10,338 cases were filed reporting copyright infringement of game IPs in 2021, according to Korea Copyright Commission.

Courts are also expanding the scope of game copyright protections. In 2019, the nation’s top court sided with British game publisher King Digital Entertainment to rule that Korean game publisher Avocado Entertainment’s mobile puzzle game, Forest Mania, plagiarized the scoring technique of its Farm Heroes Saga. However, courts have become more lenient towards copyright protection of games claimed by original IP holders since then.

BY PARK MIN-JE [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]