Krafton, the Korean game developer of "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds", has reached a settlement in the dispute between its game and NetEase's "Knives Out". A U.S. Superior Court judge in San Mateo ruled that Krafton proved that NetEase violated the terms of the contract, but concluded that Krafton failed to justify its request for $65 million in damages.
The court awarded Krafton an undisclosed "liquidated damages" for "Knives Out", "Rules of Survival" and the overseas version of "Knives Out" "Survivor Royale", but rejected Krafton's request for injunctive relief.
The copyright dispute began in April 2018, when Krafton sued NetEase, accusing its mobile battle royale games "Knives Out" and "Survival Rules" of copyright infringement. Krafton said: "The overall look, feel and listening style of (both games) mimic the stylized realism of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds."
The two companies reached a confidential settlement agreement in March 2019. However, Krafton accused NetEase of violating multiple terms of the settlement, such as failing to change certain elements of the game, including buildings, map layout, and some in-game items.
That led to a new lawsuit that went to trial earlier this year. The court ruled that NetEase failed to fulfill the terms of the settlement agreement, including using resources and elements that should have been modified to promote the game.