Blizzard takes Chinese dev to court over alleged mobile Overwatch clone

Blizzard China and its regional partner Netease have filed a lawsuit against Heroes of Warfare developer 4399, alleging that the mobile title rips off Blizzard’s own competitive shooter Overwatch. 

The two games share a number of similarities in everything from character design and map layout, with a number of Heroes of Warfare’s assets being nearly identical to things found within Blizzard’s Overwatch.

Due to this, Blizzard China says that the game is in violation of both intellectual property law and China’s unfair competition law. The Japanese site PC Watch reports that Heroes of Warfare is the second blatant Overwatch clone that 4399 has released, though the earlier PC clone has already been removed from sale.

Blizzard has appealed to Apple to have the game removed from the iOS store and is seeking both an apology and monetary damages from developer 4399 in the courtroom.