Hyper Front is alleged by Riot Games to be a direct clone of the popular 5v5 tactical shooter.
Riot Games has opened a lawsuit against NetEase, the creator of Hyper Front. The five-on-five mobile shooter is said to be a direct copy of VALORANT, as claimed by the company. Similar suits are also being launched in the United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil, and Singapore according to Polygon.
Hyper Front is a free-to-play shooter where five members of a team will go against another team in a timed battle each other. What sets Hyper Front different from VALORANT is that the game is on Android and iOS, rather than on the PC. Otherwise, according to Riot Games, the game is similar in every other aspect, including characters, maps, weapons, weapon skins, and charms, even going as far as comparing weapon stats.
“All of our creative choices are mirrored in NetEase’s game. We don’t think that changing the color of a character ability or slightly modifying the visual appearance changes the fact that it’s copyright infringement. It’s like that old saying, ‘You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.’” - Dan Nabel, Riot Games lawyer told Polygon
The suit's timing is somewhat telling, as Riot Game is looking to expand the VALORANT influence other than the PC. They have recently been spotted looking for someone to manage their console development, and earlier in the year, screenshots of a mobile version of the game were seen online.
VALORANT was released in 2020 while Hyper Front was in 2022. Riot is looking to force NetEase to shut down Hyper Front and compensate the company for “substantial” damages – a figure that was not disclosed.
