Home News Riot Is Suing NetEase For “VALORANT” Clone, “Hyper Front”

Riot Is Suing NetEase For “VALORANT” Clone, “Hyper Front”

Riot Games is suing publisher NetEase for its five-on-five mobile shooter game called “Hyper Front,” which Riot Games claims is a ripoff of “VALORANT.” According to Riot Games attorney Dan Nabel via Polygon, the action will also be brought before courts in the United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil, and Singapore. Based on local copyright laws, each country’s lawsuits differ slightly, but the core claim is the same: Hyper Front is a “copy of substantial parts of Valorant.”

If you’re not aware, “Hyper Front” is a free-to-play first-person shooter for Android and iOS where teams of five compete against one another in a variety of modes. “VALORANT” was launched by Riot Games in 2020 for Windows PC, while a mobile version, which was confirmed by the company in 2021, is now in development. Meanwhile, “Hyper Front” launched in 2022 for Android and iOS.

The two games share a lot of similarities, according to Riot’s U.K. website. In a 162-page lawsuit, it is stated that Characters, maps, weapons, weapon skins, and charms were all compared in the complaint, including the stats of the various weapons. Riot asserts in the lawsuit that NetEase did adjust Hyper Front slightly in response to Riot’s initial objections, but the amount of copyright infringement made by NetEase goes beyond that.

“All of our creative choices are mirrored in NetEase’s game. We don’t think that changing the color of a character’s ability or slightly modifying the visual appearance changes the fact that it’s copyright infringement. It’s like that old saying, You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.” – Dan Nabel, Riot Games Attorney via Polygon

Now Riot Games is suing NetEase for “substantial” damages and asking the courts to order them to shut down “Hyper Front.” According to Nabel, the company is pursuing the matter in several courts because “copyright is territorial,” with various legal systems around the world. Nabel stated, “We don’t want to rely on one specific market to get this issue fixed. We are a worldwide publisher, just like NetEase. We want them to understand how seriously we take this issue.”

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Hyper Front NetEase Riot Games VALORANT

Sai T.

Sai is a social media manager and senior web content creator who spends his days juggling game research, deadlines, and the usual existential crisis. When he isn’t crafting content that hopefully goes viral, he’s a dedicated single parent doing his best to navigate work life balance. And in the rare moments when free time actually appears, he’s usually found with his two dogs, who are fully convinced they’re the ones in charge.