Ubisoft Files Lawsuit Against Google And Apple Over Alleged Rainbow Six Siege Copycat

Rainbow Six Siege is one of the most popular multiplayer games on the planet, so it comes as little surprise that it has its share of imitators. One such imitator, however, is doing more than that in eyes of Ubisoft. The company has filed a lawsuit against both Google and Apple for selling a game Ubisoft says is a direct ripoff. [Update: Just a few days later, Area F2's developer has announced the game will be taken offline as of May 20. There's no specific mention of the lawsuit, and refunds are being offered for purchases made during its beta.]

As reported by Bloomberg, Ubisoft's suit against Google and Apple concerns the game Area F2, a multiplayer shooter created by Chinese mega-corporation Alibaba and its website Ejoy. According to Ubisoft's suit, the game allegedly copies Rainbow Six Siege's user interface, including its final score screen and the operator selection screen. Area F2 is available in the United States on mobile devices and is currently in a free period, while Rainbow Six Siege is only on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

Prior to filing the lawsuit, Ubisoft said it had told Apple and Google that the game infringed on its copyrights but the games were not taken down. The lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles, and neither Google nor Apple have commented on it yet.

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Rainbow Six Siege is one of Ubisoft's strongest ongoing revenue-generators, making more than $1 billion since it launched in 2015. This is done through microtransactions for new operators and other content, but maps are available for free and keep the community together. It makes sense why the company would be litigious with the game, as it has not received a sequel and continues to acquire players and receive new updates. A cooperative-focused game, Rainbow Six Quarantine, is scheduled to release later this year. As of now, that's still the title.