It may not be as widely talked about as Fortnite, but battle royale PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has continued to receive regular support and new content. One of its more recent additions is a new 8x8 map called Taego, which comes with its own unique gameplay features (for the time being anyway). And earlier, the mobile version, simply known as PUBG Mobile announced a new skin called Hypnospace Diva, which looks to be available for a limited time starting today.
PUBG Mobile getting a new skin normally wouldn't warrant much of a story. However, this one has notably drawn ire from one Jay Tholen, the developer responsible for indie title Hypnospace Outlaw. Specifically, Tholen is accusing the game and subsequently Tencent (PUBG Mobile's publisher) of stealing his game's name to promote the skin.
While the two sharing a name isn't entirely indicative of theft, Hypnospace isn't a particularly common word. In fact, all of the initial results from a Google search of the word bring up Hypnospace Outlaw. But it's not just the name; the skin's color scheme of purple, yellow, and blue is practically identical to the colors used in Hypnospace Outlaw's key art.
Tholen isn't the only one either. Most, if not all, of the top comments underneath the Twitter announcement on the PUBG Mobile Twitter are from people who believe the game is guilty of copying Tholen's work as well. Some even outright link to Hypnospace Outlaw's website to convince people buy that game instead of spending their money on PUBG.
Tholen states that he normally wouldn't make a big deal out of this. But he simply doesn't want the name of his game to be associated with gambling (PUBG features loot boxes, which many argue is a form of gambling) nor does he want people to be misinformed and think the skin is part of an official collaboration.
While he is continuing to explore legal options, Tencent will likely ignore any complaints surrounding it since copyright laws aren't as strict in China (where Tencent is based) compared to the West. This basically means the skin probably won't be removed or altered any time soon. At the very least, more and more people are being made aware of it so they'll know that Tholen has nothing to do with the skin's inclusion.
This is by far not the first controversy the game has been caught up in. For a period, PUBG Mobile was banned in India due to privacy concerns. It's now available again, having been tailored specifically for Indian players and even sporting a new name of PUBG Mobile India.
PUBG Mobile is available on Android and iOS.
Source: Twitter, TechRaptor