NCSoft sues Kakao again over alleged mobile game rip-off

A poster for Kakao Games' mobile game ROM: Remember of Majesty [KAKAO GAMES]

NCSoft has filed another suit against Kakao Games for alleged copyright infringement of its Lineage franchise, once again kindling the fire of eradicating the “Lineage Like” game titles within the industry.

NCSoft claims that the yet-to-be-released mobile game ROM: Remember of Majesty developed by RedLab Games and published by Kakao Games imitates its mobile game Lineage W’s concept, content, artwork and user interface.

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

“It was determined that a deviation from the common and general characteristics of the massively multiplayer online role-playing game [MMORPG] genre was to such an extent that it was difficult to recognize originality, therefore arriving at the conclusion that unauthorized plagiarism and imitation of NCSoft’s intellectual property [IP] had occurred,” NCSoft spokesperson said.

ROM was scheduled to launch globally in 10 countries including Korea and Taiwan on Tuesday.

NCSoft also filed suit in Taiwan's IP and Commercial Court for alleged copyright infringement and a violation of the country’s Fair Trade Act.

Kakao Games spokesperson briefly commented that the company “has yet to receive the documents and will review the details and provide further information upon arrival.”

The game's release schedule has not been changed, the company added.

NCSoft initially filed a copyright infringement suit against Kakao Games in April 2023, claiming that the latter’s MMORPG ArcheAge War mimicked its Lineage 2M online game.

The trial date for the case is yet to be scheduled.

In August 2023, the Seoul Central District Court ruled in favor of NCSoft after it filed a copyright infringement suit against another game company, Webzen, for its mobile game R2M.

Webzen immediately filed an appeal on the day the verdict came out and the second trial is underway.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]