Ubisoft sues Apple and Google over alleged Rainbow Six: Siege clone

Area F2 is created by Ejoy.com, a Hong Kong-based company owned by Alibaba

Mobile gaming

Karen Chiu

Published: 8:39pm, 18 May 2020

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This article originally appeared on ABACUS

Ubisoft is suing Apple and Google for selling a Chinese game that allegedly rips off the French giant’s blockbuster title Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege.

The mobile game in question, Area F2, is currently available for download on Apple’s App Store and the Google Play Store. Ubisoft said the two companies refused to remove the game even after they were informed that it infringed on the company's copyrights, according to Bloomberg. The game’s website lists the name and Hong Kong address of Ejoy.com, a game developer acquired by Alibaba in 2017.

(Abacus is a unit of the South China Morning Post, which is owned by Alibaba.)

In a statement to Abacus, a representative from Ubisoft said, “Our teams have poured years of talent, creativity and resources into making Rainbow Six: Siege the success that it is today. While we are not able to comment on pending litigation, we can confirm that Ubisoft is committed to protecting its intellectual property.”

Ejoy.com, Apple and Google could not be reached for comment.

Rainbow Six: Siege, a tactical shooter game that lets players fight enemies as part of an international counterterrorism unit, was released in 2014. The game currently has more than 55 million registered players on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, according to Ubisoft’s latest earnings report.

Area F2 isn’t the first mobile game accused of cloning Rainbow Six: Siege. In 2018, we reported that a Chinese game called Medal of King: Operation Rainbow reminded many players of Ubisoft’s hit game. Some gamers even created side-by-side comparisons of the two games to make the point.

Even though Tencent owns a stake in Ubisoft, Rainbow Six: Siege isn’t officially available in China at the moment. This doesn’t mean Chinese players can’t access the game, though: Many still play the game through the international game store Steam, which operates in a kind of legal gray area in the country by allowing gamers to play some titles that haven’t been approved by Chinese authorities.

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