Film about PUBG-like game released in China to good reviews, but Krafton considering legal actions

Biubiubiu (硬汉枪神) is a new Chinese film about a streamer who forms an esports team with his friends. A video game presented in the movie is very similar to PUBG. That’s why Krafton is now considering legal actions against its creators.

Biubiubiu was released on August 6 on Alibaba’s streaming service Youku, Bloomberg reports. It received positive reviews from viewers, who found a lot of similarities with the famous battle royale title. As for now, it has a 7.3/10 rating on Douban, Chinese version of Rotten Tomatoes.

The movie took a lot of elements from PUBG, including weapons, inventory, and even some camera angles. Its poster obviously draws inspiration from the game too.

The film’s poster

The problem is that the filmmakers didn’t secure rights to use PUBG in Biubiubiu, saying that the movie was nothing similar to the popular game. The credits even contain a disclaimer about any similarities being coincidental.

Krafton, which owns rights to the IP, stated that it wasn’t involved in the production. The South Korean company now might sue the filmmakers.

In July, Niko Partners senior analyst Daniel Ahmad noted that PUBG and its mobile version Peacekeeper Elite are very popular in China. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that local filmmakers decided to make a movie inspired by it.