Brendan "PlayerUnknown" Greene is going to have a hard time keeping his game "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG)" unique, as copycats are already zeroing in on his ideas for the battle royale niche.
Because of this, Greene has talked about the state of the game and the trend it has begun, which continues to escalate in popularity. Greene, in an interview with BBC's Radio 1 Gaming Show, has expressed that the genre he began with "PUBG" will continue to grow with each imitation of the game though he did state that "For that to happen, you need new and interesting spins on the game mode. If it's just copycats down the line, then the genre doesn't grow and people get bored."
This could mean that Greene is compelling the copycats of "PUBG" to bring more to the table instead of just replicating the formula with a new coat of paint. Greene has also suggested that he does not feel in any way threatened by the copycats taking away from the popularity of "PUBG."
Digital Trends has claimed that Greene is probably making a reference to the most popular imitation of the formula, "Fortnite: Battle Royale." In the said game, the base gameplay involves a classic tower-defense mechanic, but the developers added a Battle Royale mode identical to "PUBG's" after the latter's surge in prominence.
Still, Greene is apparently not that happy with the state of the rampant emulation of the formula he popularized. He even complained to the BBC interview that there is no intellectual property protection in games, unlike in television, music, and film, where copyright laws ensure that the work stays distinct and special. Ars Technica posited that Greene is not entirely wrong since, despite the copyright protection for Audiovisual elements of games, the overall design and formula are not safeguarded against plagiarism or replication.
It will be difficult for Greene and his development company Bluehole to implement a patent for "PUBG's" design though, as they will have to go through a lot of hoops to prove that the idea was theirs. Hopefully, their game does not get overshadowed by the knock-offs and copycats with its current state.
