by Riot Games’ flagship creation, League of Legends has been the best thing to happen to the video game developer and publisher. With LoL being a vastly played title and well recognized, Riot will go any length to protect its intellectual property.
In doing so, the Tencent-owned company sued Moonton Games for having stolen its IP in the creation of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang to say the least.
In 2017, Riot Games had sued Moonton for replicating its LoL designs but had the case dismissed (more of this to be discussed further). With no headway in their previous lawsuit, Riot has filed a different lawsuit against Moonton Games at the Los Angeles Federal Court. While the basis of this lawsuit is directed towards the mobile version of Moonton’s flagship MOBA Mobile Legends: Bang Bang on the same notion of copying its designs.
Riot Games sues Bytedance’s subsidiary for ripping off its League of Legends.
Riot Games took to the legal route and sued Moonton for ripping off the League of Legends back in 2017. The accusations were, however, dismissed by the Los Angeles Federal court on the basis that the case ought to be tried under Chinese laws and not that of the United States of America. Coming from a giant within the gaming industry, the accusations were quite heavy and not without its consequences.
Fast forward to March 2021, Moonton was acquired by Bytedance’s video gaming unit, Nuverse for a whopping $4 billion. Bytedance, who are the owners of Tiktok has allowed the Shanghai-based gaming studio to run independently.
Responding to the acquisition, Bytedance had stated that drawing lessons and insights from Moonton’s rapid growth are a plus for the acceleration of its Nuverse platform.
“Through cross-team collaboration and drawing on lessons and insights from its own rapid growth, Moonton provides the strategic support needed to accelerate Nuverse’s global gaming offerings,”
With Bytedance taking a liking to the video gaming industry, it has placed the multinational internet technology company in direct competition with the Chinese giant, Tencent owners of Riot Games.
Moonton was founded by a former Tencent staff and is highly known for its Mobile Legends MOBA title. The company was also bidded on by Tencent, as the technology and entertainment conglomerate was looking to acquire the brand. Bytedance matched their bid and was victorious in the purchase to the detriment of Tencent.
While Riot’s MOBA, League of Legends: Wild Riot is not readily available globally, the mobile title has garnered tons of interest and will surely be one for the books when it’s released worldwide. On the other hand, Moonton’s mobile title, Mobile Legends Bang Bang has received massive popularity with over 500 million downloads across all compatible devices.
The accusation leveled against Moonton, suggests that they lifted several elements of their LoL title including, character designs and skillsets. Also allegedly ripped off were the Riot Games’ promotional videos (character trailers and events).
Riot Game had also sued Suga Pte Ltd with the same accusation leveled against the Singapore-based organization. We look forward to the outcome of the lawsuit and the verdict from the Los Angeles Federal Court.
