Update: Area F2 has been suspended and Ubisoft has dismissed the lawsuit.

Ubisoft Entertainment SA sued Apple Inc and Google LLC on Friday, claiming that the companies failed to address copyright infringement by the game called Area F2. According to Ubisoft, Area F2 is "almost a carbon copy" of Rainbow Six Siege and "virtually every aspect" of it is a rip-off of R6S, although, as Bloomberg reported, Ubisoft had previously notified Apple and Google about the game, Both Apple and Google had refused to remove the game from the App Store and Google Play. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Los Angeles.

Area F2 is made by Ejoy, an Alibaba subsidiary acquired in 2017; Ejoy describes Area F2 as "the first mobile Close-Quarters Battle (aka CQB) shooter. "Area F2 was released last month but ads for this game began circulating last year. The similarities are striking, Ubisoft said in its filing, and "cannot be seriously challenged." It is unclear whether that would be sufficient for a lawsuit, or what impact a successful lawsuit would have.

Copyright law surrounding games is a complex topic that has not been fully explored. Game duplication is a common practice in the mobile industry, but often grazes the boundaries of legality. Elements defined as game mechanics are not protected by copyright in the U.S., but intellectual property and visual design elements may be. And while it is not clear to what extent Apple or Google could be held liable for the sale of clones, the law is clear that they could be required to remove material that infringes copyright.

We will keep a close eye on this matter and report back as the situation develops.