NetEase, one of the largest video game companies in China - and the world - has been causing all sorts of trouble online recently, seemingly ripping off a major Nintendo IP, mocking its fans, and then getting caught up in a lie on social media all in one go.
The issues began when social media users started to notice similarities between NetEase's mobile game, Operation Windcloud Island, and Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, calling the company out online for its potential plagiarism. We haven't played the game ourselves, and therefore cannot speak of its gameplay, but these screenshots do look a little familiar. We'll let you be the judge on this one.
In response, social media representatives of NetEase took to smartphone app TapTap, posting messages that seemingly mocked Nintendo fans for not considering mobile games to be real games, before teasing that PC games are superior to Switch titles anyway. It gets worse, as the company then reportedly went on to use derogatory terms aimed at Switch fans, and then at PS4 fans, too, despite the console not even being relevant to the conversation.
It seems that someone at NetEase eventually realised that this could end badly, as the offending post was soon taken down. As if to apologise, a new post appeared noting that the team are huge Nintendo fans and were simply joking around, posting this image below in the process to demonstrate this fact. Social media users performed a reverse image search online, however, finding that the photograph had actually just been taken from another user. Sheesh!
Interestingly, NetEase's president has mentioned in the past how he would love to work with Nintendo; in light of recent events, we're not entirely convinced that this will happen.
[source nintendosoup.com]
Comments 86
They claim in the end they are Nintendo "fans" yet the image they posted is from Google.
Gotta love liars
Isn’t social media great? Really brings out the best in people.
@BladedKnight yeah, first IGN, now NetEase.
@BladedKnight I was just thinking that game looked fast, fluid and responsive.
Lol love these trolls
So they state that PC is better than NS while advertising a rip-off of a NS best-seller on the least technologically advanced modern gaming platform. What splendid marketing!
@GrailUK ha, nice one
Wow. The trolling is real.
China has no respect for IP due to how their law doesn't really penalize breaking it...
And Chinese people can be really smug while being dishonest. But more and more they seem to be getting flak for this in the video game industry. There was this mobile Overwatch rip-off that got shut down, and those devs also tried to claim that it was just a homage and they're huge fans.
It's China. They do this thing regularly. Not news.
I feel Ashamed as a Chinese-Indonesian people to see a Plagiarism like that.
Of course they're fans, they must have put in some hours on BotW to produce a rip-off!
>China
What a surprise...
Too bad they won't ripoff Winnie the Pooh though
Meh, why am I not suprised that someone from China is ripping off a really popular game.
Then have a go at players, way to go!
Then to show a picture of their switch which was lifted from another site.
Oh god, I mean come on!
@SmaggTheSmug I think all people can be pretty smug when they’re being dishonest. Part of the whole “I lied and am going to get away with it” mentality
@HobbitGamer True... I guess I was just exposed to Chinese examples more often
But I can recall a few Spanish ones from my tabletop game of choice.
I mean, I don't see a huge problem with the obvious knock off. It doesn't star a character that looks the same and took time to create.
Heck there's 2 games on the eshop right now I can think of that are basically carbon copies of older arcade games and I'm sure there's plenty more.
It's the insults and unprofessional attitude that's bad form.
Everything from mobile phones to fighter jets (J-11 = Su-27); the Chinese are the Copycat Kings.
It's all relative
@Yasaal
Netease are alrrady wotking with Nintendo not directly but via Niantic, Netease are working with Niantic to release Pokemon go here in China so it will be interesting to see if this affects anything
Well, if you willing to invest the money (and a bit of network know-how). PC gaming is superior in just about every way. They just being honest.
Also, its a bit hypocritical Calling a mobile clones "inspired by" when they get announced for the eShop. But "rip-off" when it is a clone for another platform.
I would actually like to know what isn't being ripped off in China...
China have funny rules, they can freely go from country to country stealing and copying intellectual property and hosting it/using it in their own country, i say hosting because they rampantly steal Hollywood films and Japaneses anime/manga and host it on their own untouchable servers.... even when all other Rom and emulator sites go down, China will still have their available, this is due to the WTO's freedom of enterprise (allowing countries that trade with each other to operate in each others territory.)
But they are very anal about letting other companies do the same in their own country, hounding them and monitoring the companies to the point that some wont even consider a Chinese presence.
The US (as much as i can't stand Trump) is 100% right to stick it to China, i hope they levy all trade tariffs on Chinese goods and really stick it to them, force them to change their policy...
When China changes its policies, companies like this can get sued. Until that changes. this wont happen.
China doesn't care about property IP. Their entire economy is made up of producing fake, low-quality goods. Amazon and ebay are flooded with their fake rubbish and many people get burned.
This is what happens when you're dealing with a country who's entire economy is based on ripping ideas from the rest of the world and re-selling them as their own.
China is a cesspool for thievery.
More people should fear the rise of China.
@8-Bit_Superman The bottom image is a screenshot, and more can be found via the source at the bottom of the article 😊
Mobile games are inferior to console games and PC games. And PC games will always have access to the latest and greatest in raw power and tech. However the Switch remains my personal favorite because it's the best way to date have modern, quality gaming, on a device I can play on the go.
Anyway, I don't care what some Chinese company has to say. Half of Chinese products are made with stolen technology and the country's business culture has absolutely no respect for intellectual property rights in general. It's actually quite sad, because I know there's nothing wrong with Chinese people as individuals and China is a beautiful nation with a rich history.
@Octane it's like the exorcist
But yeah, Chinese laws don't really protect IP, especially foreign IP.
@Razer There are serious problems with that situation to be certain. But the problem is the wider damage such a trade war will do. There are problems now, but the job losses and economic damage of a trade war with China will hurt people around the world. We always want there to be an easy solution like slapping tariffs or sanctions on someone, but in reality it's never so simple...
@Heavyarms55 I know, it never was meant to be that simple.
I can't imagine a situation where China will just freely give up its agenda, but the alternative is much worse.
A trade war now will effect millions of lives and many countries around the world, but to allow China to continue doing what it's doing will be so much more worse in the future. The lesser pain for the entire world would be to go down the route of confrontation with china's trade policies, if that leads to a trade war, that is mostly the fault of China for not changing its ways, the media will paint it as a "Trump and US idea" but the blue-print was there LONG before Trump and the US thought about it, China stepped on many other nations before it got to the US, they all voiced their anger a long time before this.
News flash...a couple of immature Chinese trolls are just as bad as any other troll from any other part of the world.
I don't know much about the game...yeah, the art style seems like a pretty crude rip-off in some aspects. @Wanjia mentioned it was a Battle Royale, which I could see, as they would make a lot of money on a mobile platform.
Long story short, it isn't illegal to copy game mechanics, you can't copy (directly) in-game assets. You probably could imitate a lot of things and not get into legal trouble (which is why you see a lot of Zelda LttP clones here!), but most Western companies would not want the bother or the bad publicity. Currently in China, IP laws and protections are lax so this is going to happen. But this is the work of a few & not necessarily representative of everybody.
@Lone_Beagle a few?
80% of China's economy is made from copied intellectual property from other countries....
A few... LOL
There is more cheap knocked off Chinese goods on the global market than there are grains of soy bean in China right now.
@Santoria IGN are still around?
@Razer Lived in Hong Kong for almost 4 years and what they call creativity is copying something from somewhere else and then changing it a bit.
@GrailUK
Oh God that was so funny
They do it with almost all games. I still remember the Overwatch Chinese rip-off
@Julien Yeah they do, but the difference is huge, they dont flood the global market with stolen IP's from other countries, they normally keep that stuff local and locked to their own country, and the change is normally big enough for it to appeal to their own market, and not really cause so much of a stir.
@Santoria
What was the story with IGN?
@DABYX You don't think that 2nd screenshot in particular if you take away the scarf that person doesn't look a lot like link lol.
@dougphisig Well yea I guess lol. Tbh (and I meant to put this in my original comment!) Not actually gotten around to playing BOTW yet oop!
But idk, loads of things are knockoffs. It's bad they're using someone elses IP to get some quick cash but as long as it's not outright infringment. I've probably got some clothes that are "fakes" of other brands.
Actually most off the shelf clothes are knockoffs anyway right?
I'm not saying it's morally right per se.
Look at Harry Potter lol. So much stuff in that is just taken from everywhere else but the individual characters are their own thing .
@Lone_Beagle I'll agree that Chinese are people like the rest of us. The problem is that both their culture and their government allow nonsense like this to happen. They have no respect for intellectual properties and their government is an authoritarian psuedo-communist regime with corrupt officials that basically help a few big companies enforce monopolies over large swathes of their industry.
This is why they don't care if their companies blatantly steal or knockoff other ips and products, but they will spit in the face of other businesses that try to sell things in China. The only real way to do business in China is to go through one of their large companies and give them a hefty cut. Which is why you see a lot not even bothering.
I didn't want to write at first but these comments are really making me sad and wanting to step up. A lot of you here should actually be ashamed of the way that you talk and your ignorance is astounding. The whole economy of China is based on ripping off ? Really ? Also "China is a cesspool for thievery." ? It's really sad...and no I am not chinese
PR disaster! I got my popcorns!
Entire article read like a typical day in the life of a certain President I know. 😛
@rjejr
Haha no kidding
@Razer Let's call it what it is: China is in violation of just about every accepted trade law and standard there is, but nobody will call them out on it or penalize them because they're the magical golden goose of slave labor and endlessly huge market backed by a military of a size nobody would want to have to mess with (even if they never seem to understand that market is impenetrable by design.) China is well aware of their invincibility and utilizes it accordingly.
@Heavyarms55 China's state is extremely sad. Once the jewel of the East, and arguably the most ideal civilization that ever existed, battered from invasion and occupation got suckered into adopting faddish European statism and now exists in this weird Soviet inspired state of being powerful scavengers. It's also extremely dangerous. OTOH as the whole world is increasingly absorbed by new feudalism I think (after a likely revolution) China has potential to emerge as the next actually free country. The population seems ready for it...the undercurrents are all there. But they have to get over their superiority complex to actually do anything. And that doesn't seem to be likely soon.
As for trade wars....it's all fine and good to want to avoid the negative impacts, but at some point with trade wars (or all wars) you get to a point where you have to make a decision: Try to stop a growing problem before it is irreversible, surrender, or just stall and keep kicking the can down the line so someone ELSE has to deal with the result, even if it's even worse by then (Hint, the last route is the one France, UK, and US took between 1919-1935.) Technically I think it probably already is too late. 15, 20 years ago was the time to address it. But everyone was busy kicking the can, lets not deal with the upset it causes now, let's push it to later! So here's later. If it's never challenged, the only possible outcome is accepting China as effectively the empire they already know they are ("中国"/"China" is really an ancient colloquial name re-adopted after the end of the Qin Dynasty. Prior, the proper name was "Great [insert Dynasty] Empire"/"大清帝国" (Quing). Ancient euphamism of "Center/Middle/Moderat(or) Kingdom" aside, it was more typically identified as an empire) and inevitably the defacto rulers. China doesn't see this as a new direction, they see it as returning to their former proper role (but with a new Western authoritarian twist that wasn't there historically, as one of the more enlightened cultures.) The alternate to challenging it and risking "trade war" is that word that politicians love: "managed decline" which is a beautifully PR spun version of "slow capitulation" at worst, "appeasement" at best. A socio-political and economic Vichy for the 21st century.
The current economy is based on highly disposable goods mass produced in China for sale worldwide, while "services" are sold to China. That's a new economic model that popped up starting only in the 90's. Does anyone believe that's a permanently sustainable economy? Has anyone considered how things look when it isn't?
Here in the West, and especially the US we have the problem in the opposite direction. The policies of both Chinese economics and Chinese authoritarianism are pretty attractive to businesses and governments. Ours seems to more and more closely emulate theirs the the point I worry there may not be much difference anymore beyond that they are likely to revolt and establish a new freer society before we do.
@Octane @Yasaal Sadly that reference goes over far too many heads here....I've discovered that too often....
@NEStalgia Well as you went on to explain to @Heavyarms55 , if we don't actually do something, the problem will get out of control. I am somewhat glad that the US stepped up to the plate - on the subject of US going down the same route as China, i am not from the US, i come from Iran, i live in the UK, i agree with maybe 10% of your countries foreign policies... but i 100% disagree that the US is like China in how it does business.
You guys don't rip off other countries IP's nearly as much, if you do, its within the realms of everyone else who does it too, much US IP has been ripped and will continue to be ripped off by other poorer nations... But nobody can match China in this practice...Nobody.
I can see why everyone has been dragging their feet at getting this done though. Cheap labor and all, as disgusting and immoral as it is, from a business POV, its not hard to see the benefits.
China is literally taking everything.
@Razer Very true, Chinese products are heavily based on theft of IP, designs, components, etc. etc. But from a business policy/organizational/way of thinking direction, it, not just the US, the West in general, is more and more emulating the Chinese systems of mercantilism. In part because it's attractive to do so for profit motive, and in part to realign everything to placate China itself to be accepted into their market. Business seems themselves as "global" now and by "global" they mean "wherever they see a big market". China's never excluded from that list, so they always bend over backwards to behave in a manner expected by China.
What I don't understand is why anybody wants to do business with China. Exploiting their labor is obvious. But the idea they have this huge market to tap is silly when they don't even hide that it's only available for Chinese companies, and if they do let you do business there it's only long enough for them to learn how to duplicate your product using your own blueprints on the same assembly line you leased, long enough for them to enact midnight raids to steal your corporate data and plans, or long enough to make you comply with all your data being stored in Chinese datacenters, the reasoning of which should be fairly obvious. They all but tell you "we intend to copy your product by any means necessary" upon entry. Why is anybody still trying this?
Lmao ok
It was only a few months ago when the CEO of NetEase expressed interest in partnering with Nintendo, possibly to help Nintendo officially launch the Switch in China.
Guess that ain't happening anymore.
Video game ripoffs are nothing new or even undesirable. When there are enough ripoffs you even call it a "genre". Platformers started as Mario riipoffs, FPS started with Doom ripoffs, MOBA started with Dota ripoffs, and now Battle Royale consists of PUBG ripoffs.
The art style ripoff here is particularly brazen though.
@DABYX I agree. I don't hate knockoffs. Hell, some of the best Android games started off as knockoffs. The problem is the developer's attitude.
NetEase Warning game maker is plagiarism might be sued Nintendo. break the law to court using copyright content. Otherwise Think different, make your own game.
riki_sidekicks Started Mario was almost ripoff with Super Lucky Tales.
@NEStalgia couldn't really of said it better myself on second part.
I do think though that western companies will draw the line... Especially if certain practices effect their bottom line.
For example, the practice of using animal by-products and testing in China will never be adopted in the west for fear of a total boycott... Animal cruelty transcends political and economic barriers in the west.
Most western countries have copywrite laws that protects important IP, certain companies wont step foot in China for the very reasons you just stated, so even if certain practices will get adopted from China, most IP stealing one's won't, especially not from one western company to another.
Plus things like GDPR will certainly impede China from stealing company data that are of EU origin, especially if it starts taking effect globally.
I do think what the US is doing with China is the only way to tackle this issue, it will hurt us all and make us all slightly poorer... But the cost of not having certain things for freedom is a small price i would gladly pay.
Well they ripped off Sony by making bootleg controllers and in the process ruined any chance of anyone buying a real PS3 controller brand new or used. Why not rip off games as well? Granted none of this is new. But it's really becoming a problem in the West and Japan.
Oh my.
Want that game on my phone!
Wow! Just saw the trailer, it's clear that NF didn't. These guys are ripping off BoTW and Fortnite!! Check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8u_CBZXLID8
Again, would love to have this on my phone!
This is nothing new for the company, they've released dozens of iOS and Android games that are ripoffs of PUBG and Fortnite.
He looks more like Rex than Link. And hey, the trailer shows off multiple playable characters and fancier-looking attacks. I'm already more interested in this than I was in BOTW.
Funny how drawing from an art style makes this a rip-off when NintendoLife is always spotlighting "Zelda-inspired" games in their articles.
@Octane Pictured: Xi Jingping, warming up before a critical Party gig in Shanghai.
@EightBitMan You seem nice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoy3nD4oPFg
Just a single look at the trailer and we can see that except maybe the graphic style, it has nothing in common with Zelda, so sayin that it's plagiarism is kinda non sense in this case imo
Mocking Nintendo and Sony PS4 fans but not Microsoft. China has a gigantic grudge against Japan and everything Japanese. It kind of makes you wonder how the Chinese would see the Japanese had the two countries not gone to war between 1895 to 1945.
@Razer Are you willing to get up in front of the tens of thousands or more who lose their jobs, homes, businesses and livelihoods and tell them we'd be preventing something worse? Can you explain clearly what that worse would be? Because that's the kind of disaster this could become.
@Heavyarms55 imagine life under heavy Chinese influence, imagine your access to free information and you ability to go where ever you want be heavily restricted. Even what you say and write, imagine having to face trial in China for writing something bad about Mao Zedong in an online blog or whatever.
Because if China has its way, that is exactly what they want, if you really think that China intends anything other than global dominance, then you are foolishly mistaken. They want to attain this end by any means, including stealing every other countries ideas and pass it off as your own.
Yep, millions lose jobs people will cry, then learn to adapt... You know why? Because freedom.
Try adapting with the level of Freedom the Chinese government would give you... Nah im good thanks.
@Heavyarms55 could you stand in front of billions and tell them "we had to lose our freedom as a species so a few million could keep their jobs!"...?
Because thats where we are heading if nothing is done.
@EightBitMan i wonder what would happen if that Chinese company mock PC users who doesn't want mobile games on PC. 🤔
@EightBitMan So do people who troll fan sites of something they're not a fan of. Wish everyone responding to you the best.
China is literally the king of plagiarism.
@Anti-Matter Chinese people make low-quality copies of anything and everything. That isn't new.
@MarioFan02 @Darlinfan @Aozz101x @PanurgeJr Don't respond to that stupid troll. Instead keep reporting his posts for trolling and/or put him on ignore. It's obvious he's just here to hate on Nintendo and us fans, creating anger among us. Hopefully he, like I presume happened to gatorboi, will be kicked out of here pretty soon.
😂😂 I wanna know what offensive things they called the Nintendo fans in English lol this is so bizarre
The game may be a ripoff but not totally a direct copy, the only gripe is that they didn't handle this situation professionally but instead give in to the trolls by trolling back.
@EightBitMan Just letting you know that baiting and trolling is against the rules. You don't seem to be content with Nintendo, that is fine, and judging by your profile you don't play on their systems. But I do wonder why you keep visiting this site if you don't like them?
@EightBitMan Well, that's fine, to each their own. But saying that in every comment section won't change that. Complaining is fine, but be at least a little more constructive.
@EightBitMan Ok, you have made your point. Received loud and clear. We all get how you feel. We get it.
I happen to enjoy where Nintendo is at right now. They aren't perfect, but nothing is.
You seem to want an experience that Nintendo just doesn't offer. Quick fix, go play on PS4 or PC. Seems like they offer exactly what you are looking for. Problem solved. "State of decay" averted.
Don't get upset at a company because they don't fit the mold which you have created for what a video game company in 2018 should look like. Let Nintendo, and all of its fans go down with the ship if we are sinking. Wouldn't be the first, or the last time someone has told me Nintendo is doomed.
This game isn't more of a BotW ripoff than LoZ was a Hyglide ripoff, it's actually less of one.
Cya
Raziel-chan
@Razer @NEStalgia @Heavyarms55 I could disagree with both of you but I think it will fall on mute ears.
China is a technocracy, it means it priorities technology above pretty much everything else. I would argue that China is actually a nation in decline.
If you think of it like art, you can't steal art even when you have the skills to replicate the art yourself...which is no easy feat. There are artists these days that make a living copied famed artists of years pasts. You see this in visual arts but its also called pop art/music.
Technology on the other hand is much easier to replicate...at least certain part of it. This is the stealing you call but it isn't necessarily so.
I remember reading somewhere about how to launch a successful business and the first thing they mention is to not think that anyone is stealing anything. A good idea cannot be copied.
A lot of times many people come up wit the same / similar things but an outstanding idea is one that people can't easily replicate.
Also it is often the "leader" who falls behind.
Using consoles as an example, Sony showed off that patent of theirs that was similar to the Nintendo Switch but not really.
Most successful companies follow what is called a Blue Ocean Strategy in which they make the competitors irrelevant but that usually requires an outstanding idea as I said before.
That's to say Sony probably had a similar idea but it was too generic for their taste to launch to market.
So it wouldn't be too "mindblowing" for Sony to seemingly copy the Switch and launch their patented device.
It works pretty much the same way with the PlayStation, PlayStation Move and the PlayStation Portable. These devices have been working on for some time.
On the one hand, it looks like Sony "copied" Nintendo, on the other, Sony simply didn't have that unique touch that they were looking for an so went back to R&D with the device.
Ironically, Sony is an iconic engineering brand / entertainment company that manufactures its own hardware, is it not?
Strange how that works.
How Nintendo is "out-innovating" Sony or so it seems.
Going back to China, it is more the same.
@NEStalgia The reason why China is being hated by Chinese people is because they wanted China to adapted the more modern and popular American model of living all for the sake of their children and the next generation. They don't want Chinese children to be treated as second class citizen and whatever else.
China is a nation on decline. It has been since the Ming Dynasty. They basically invented everything back in the day and it was copied by the West so what the different between then and now?
That said, you are also right. Western Imperialism has taken over and China is adopting its model to survive. I think the whole freedom thing is just thrown around by powers of all sides to prove their point. China is plenty free practically speaking.
Don't forget the Roman Empire which SPAWNED from so called Roman democracy. You really think if the West ruled the World, there wouldn't be a second Rome?
The Roman West conquered Egypt and basically uses the same trick on the Egyptians and their Gods. I think China might fall to the ground for the same reasons and might never come back. (This goes more into speculative history, Biblical prophecies and why I think the West will end up ruling the world.)
Going back to the console wars, this is the same thing as the Switch vs consoles.
The Switch is not without it detractors. Nor are consoles.
As @EightBitMan puts it: I am absolutely disgusted by the current state of this company; the exploitation of consumers, the promises they make and break, the lies they spread, and the treatment of core gamers by delivering ridiculous hardware. Unacceptable. I want a better Nintendo, not this disgraceful, anti-consumer company.
Yet this is all perspective.
If the Switch succeed and someone like Sony continues to make standard consoles people would probably complain then too. That said, more often then not, it is the lesser products that succeed in marketing as I mentioned before.
The Blue Ocean Strategy.
In years to come, who will become the irrelevant one?
Only time will tell.
For now all we know is that people are still doing business with Nintendo and China.
Edit: Remember all that talk and rumour about Nintendo going third party?
Well I feel the situation is with China is the same.
I think I must be the only guy who think Nintendo is actually at the strongest they've ever been. This IS them. They are getting some third party support for the Switch, more then before anyway and making some easy money. Nintendo is set for twenty years just selling Switches alone. What happens after is another story.
What you want to play is a Sony game. Sony can easily roll out a generic version of the Switch and sell millions. Blue Ocean Strategy style.
In China's case, it is the same thing, you don't want to be the silent inventor forever, you gain nothing for it especially back in the day when patents don't exist.
Oh, I have a bunch of paper patents that said I invented this or that. So what?
What you want to be is the guy who can easily adapt to any technological change in the environment and this is what China is today.
Let the other guy roll out the innovations, I can handle it, copy it, replicate it with ease. That's true power there.
"Plagiarism" is still strong in games. They must be put to just and Nintendo just had it.
Remember when they also rip-off Splatoon game as well?
If this does not stop, it'll carry on and then multiplies like mushrooms after the rain.
Ridiculing consoles and both console game makers and fans, and then still wanting the games.
That's not a cool way to display enthusiasm over something.
@MichaelHarvey agree 100%
Weirdly, & since you can't tell more than the obvious resemblance in the pics, I'd like to see what those guys are made of & play their game. That is until they start insulting me. If they can hang with the big dogs, why aren't they trying to do just that, i wonder? Sadly, we all know the answer, most likely.
In other news: Game arriving next week on Switch!!
Joking of course, but I could see it happen. All eating from that sweet, sweet pie...
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