SEGA and C2 has officially filed a lawsuit against MorningTec Japan

[211303]

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So an update on the situation. SEGA and C2 has officially filed a lawsuit against MorningTec Japan, the company that publishes Abyss Horizon, in hope for an injunction to stop the game from distribution.

Here is the official respond of MorningTec Japan:

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Obviously, they have denied that there is any infringement, and said that they are ready to resort to legal proceedings.




For those who do not know about Abyss Horizon, it is a new mobile game that closely resemble KC arcade. It has been released in Japan already. Here's some footage and screenshots:

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[Mikan]

It's Rensouhou-chan look a like....what the hell. -__-

[ofi123]

@Mikan

Not sure if these are true or photoshopped, but some ship girls art are literal Kancolle's. Not to mention the small enemies resemble a bit too much to abyssal in Kancolle.

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[211303]

@ofi123 the renshouhou is from abyss horizon, but the last pic in your tweet isn't. It's from another Chinese KC ripoff.

[ofi123]

@211303

I see, so those tweets I saw are from other games.

[DLRevan]

Before anyone goes off the rails, comparing this to PUBG vs Fortnite or something like I'm seeing everywhere else, it really does have blatantly copied content from KC. The renshohou is not the only thing, but even that's enough of a case. It's not just a matter of the concept/genre, though SEGA/C2 is pursuing using that direction. It's an easier angle to attack since they seem only interested in making sure it's not distributed in Japan.

[211303]

Before anyone goes off the rails, comparing this to PUBG vs Fortnite or something like I'm seeing everywhere else, it really does have blatantly copied content from KC. The renshohou is not the only thing, but even that's enough of a case. It's not just a matter of the concept/genre, though SEGA/C2 is pursuing using that direction. It's an easier angle to attack since they seem only interested in making sure it's not distributed in Japan.

Also, if you look at the full text, the thing that SEGA specifically pointed out is the graphics, which is just very, very similar to KC arcade (but 10 times worse in quality).

[KotoNano]

Having tried it out, there's some obvious references and similar content but the fact is KC is using an incredibly basic system for it's arcade. Other boat games long before KC Arcade have used a similar style for control. I mean you can just look at shit like Battlestations or WoWs and the broad concept of how they control is the same as KC Aracde. Your ship has wide turning, you have a button for main guns, torpedoes, etc. The only difference is KC Arcade is focused on dodging attacks rather than aiming using the classic MMO style area target notifications. From a gameplay standpoint, it literally is PubG/Fortnight.

The designs... yeah Renshouhou copy is kind of a thing but then that's a trend you'll always see, the concept behind it (sentient pet gun) has been done for decades. Ship girls themselves are going to all look the same in a broad sense because there isn't a huge degree of difference you can do to make a girl look like a boat, especially if you're putting in references to that specific boat in the design. The fact is there is just not enough variety in the concept. Personifications of ships are always going to look like every other design. You hit either "This is just a girl with nothing really related to the ship" or "This is a rip off of KC" territory and nobody is going to view it differently. It's not got the variety available to it like monster-collection games that can have a greater variety of styles that can be done compared to using the concept of anthropomorpic ships girls.

Unlike the complaint they pushed at AL for using "A word we copyrighted" this is more an anti-competition case and depending on how bad some of the copied concepts are and I think it's not the renshohou copy that'll decide this but the enemy designs. If the enemy designs are considered too similar that's where the only issue that'll be actually pushed. I've not looked that deep into the game to see if other designs for shipgirls have been directly copied but that's the only thing I could see them actually being able to get a legit legal case for.

From what I've seen in game though, they won't be able to force any kind of copyright for the UI or other in game designs. Only the character and enemy assets.

[DLRevan]

@KotoNano Having tried every single game you mentioned, from a player's perspective perhaps it is similar to many other games. After getting over the theme, the player's perspective, etc, especially if you are more inclined towards a 'serious' view of games, you can drill it down to certain common elements.

But from an observer's perspective, KC arcade and AH are incredibly similar in terms of character design and feel of the gameplay. Which will weigh more in court. Putting it another way, put Battlestations Pacific, Azure Lane, KC Arcade and AH in front of a court. Each have similarities in one way or another, either in terms of gameplay, theme or character design concept. Ask them to pick out the two that are most similar, especially without playing. It's very obviously KC arcade and AH.



Outside of what a court may see, I disagree anyway that KC arcade and AH are only as 'similar' as Fortnite and PUBG are similar. Games and their design are more than just the player's control mechanics, and IMO Fortnite is different enough. AH is not. Also I think its a on-going community-made fiction that C2 have some kind of issue against other clones based on just the concept of shipgirls. Kancolle was a first mover in terms of how that concept is to be exploited, no matter what anyone says about its current state, good or bad. That means there's going to be cases where competitors "borrow" more than they should, such as with AL and the case of the trademark. i dislike it when gamers mis-interpret legal cases, their rationale and their purpose. Which happens often but couldn't be a worse kind of scrutiny. Gamers tend to be emotional, hype-followers. That Al business, still read players treating the trademark like it was a patent. But these are all...another topic I suppose.

[Leyana]

100% Original Content.

But seriously. Having looked at AH. They deserve everything they have coming. At least the other copycats had the decency to be copycats and not ripoffs.