Paladins, a free to play hero shooter is adding a new mode to the game called “Battlegrounds.” Announced at the Hi-Rez Expo, this mode is described as the “first-ever hero-shooter battle royale.” This new mode in the game sounds like it’s going to copy just about every aspect of PUBG, except that the player controlled characters will have class abilities and mounts.
The rules have been laid down by Hi-Rez. Paladins Battlegrounds is going to drop 100 players onto a large map, have fog close in on players forcing them to move towards a central area, and allow them to fight each other with weapons they find on the map. They’re even incorporating random bomb drops in certain zones.
While Paladins Battlegrounds isn’t an exact copy of PlayerUnknown’s, it’s certainly not a unique idea. The developers have likely seen an opportunity to increase their player-count by adding this popular mode into their game. Last year, Epic Games Fortnite surged in popularity when it added a Battle Royale mode to their game.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the clones are going to stop. The creator of PUBG, Brendan Greene, spoke with the BBC about copycat versions of Battlegrounds. Greene said in the interview, “I want other developer to put their own spin on the genre… not just lift things from our game. For that to happen you need new and interesting spins on the game mode. If it’s just copycats down the line, then the genre doesn’t grow and people get bored.”
Greene is also worried about PUBG clones hurting his game as well and thinks that their should be copyright protection to help combat these types of clones popping up. “Some amazing games pass under the radar,” says Greene. “Then someone else takes the idea, has a marketing budget, and suddenly has a popular game because they ripped off someone else’s idea. I think it’s something that the industry needs to look into.”
Regardless, there’s no copyright protection for PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and PUBG Corp so this likely won’t be the last clone we see. You can check out the trailer for Paladins Battlegrounds Mode below:
