Starting as a Manga Editor

Chapter 207: Wait and See

"......"

To be honest.

The point Li Xue raised wasn't uncommon in Tang Yao's previous life.

When mobile games first emerged, many reskinned games followed this exact approach - replicating core gameplay and overall story structure while only making superficial changes to visuals and text. This allowed them to skirt legal risks while essentially stealing the original game's creative core.

The most famous examples would be around 2014, when Tencent aggressively expanded into mobile games, churning out those "Everybody's" and "Daily" series games. Then there were Nexon's games like "Bubble Fighter" and "KartRider."

Ironically... Nexon pioneered the pay-to-win model in casual games. Yet it was Tencent, the copycat, that took it to new heights with skins, items, memberships - an entire dazzling array of monetization schemes.

The outcome was downright comical.

Persuaded by Shanda, Nexon actually sued Tencent for plagiarism, only to slam into the iron wall of Tencent's "Nanshan Undefeated" legal team. The court ultimately ruled that while interfaces and gameplay were similar, the code differed - not qualifying as copyright infringement.

Then came the real punchline.

By suing Tencent, Nexon caught the attention of Nintendo - home to the Eastern Hemisphere's most powerful legal department...Nintendo promptly sued Nexon, claiming "KartRider" copied "Mario Kart"...

Well then.

They'd picked a fight with the godfather of gameplay mechanics.

Nexon lost on both fronts - not only did their domestic market share shrink further, they had to pay Nintendo damages and issue an apology, leaving them fuming.

However.

Soon enough.

Nexon got their revenge.

In 2008, when "Dungeon & Fighter" launched, Tencent had already secured its distribution rights. But Nexon played it smart - knowing Tencent had the rights, they immediately took on debt to acquire the game's developer, transforming the two from competitors to business partners.

Thereafter.

Every year, Tencent had to pay Nexon $890 million for "DNF" distribution rights... A single year's revenue share far exceeded what Nexon had paid to acquire the developer originally.

This became Tencent's biggest regret at the time.

Truly a case of the hunter becoming the hunted.

Later.

Karma came for Tencent too... As they became China's top gaming company, others began copying them using the same tactics. The most famous example being "Magic Rush: Heroes."

Back then, Tencent hadn't yet targeted Southeast Asia.

The founders took an alternative approach, directly launching their clone in these regions. By the time Tencent reacted and tried pushing Honor of Kings there, the copycats were already firmly established.

The tables had turned.

Tencent tried protecting their rights.

And apparently failed.

Proving that copying is easy, but protecting IP is hard - such is life.

This phenomenon wasn't unique to China either. Overseas markets had their share too, like the controversial "Palworld" before Tang Yao's transmigration - accused of wholesale copying Pokémon's art and character designs.

Nothing new under the sun.

Tang Yao had lived through the 90s before transmigrating.

Current laws still lack clear regulations regarding gameplay mechanics.

As long as this remains unchanged.

The gaming industry's copycat culture will persist.

Take League of Legends borrowing from DOTA, which in turn borrowed from Chaos of Three Kingdoms - it's an endless cycle.

Because certain fundamentals can't be copyrighted.

For MOBA games like DOTA - five-player teams destroying towers and crystals to win - this core gameplay will never receive copyright protection. Too many similar games exist, making it impossible to prove who originated the concept.

By Tang Yao's previous life's end, every game on the market bore traces of others' work.

Fighting games couldn't escape Street Fighter's influence, MMORPGs owed to World of Warcraft, while Mario Kart birthed all item-based racing games.

Wasn't Tang Yao's current games also from her past world?

This isn't justification - gaming is a composite art form combining visuals, music, gameplay and narrative into a cohesive whole. Legally defining the line between inspiration and plagiarism remains extremely difficult.

Thus copying became low-risk, high-reward - an irresistible temptation for many developers.

Of course, as legal awareness grows, players' tolerance for knockoffs and plagiarism continues dropping. The market space for shoddy reskins shrinks accordingly. Developer reputations matter more now, creating a self-correcting mechanism to some degree.

But this takes time - not something one or two people can change. It requires developer integrity and players firmly rejecting blatant copies to starve out low-effort clones.

Which is why Tang Yao never worried about such matters. Take "Dark Night Decree" - wasn't it a complete FGO replica?

Only.

She never expected.

Someone would actually try threatening... Avalon with this.

Seriously?

Did they think she hadn't seen it all before?

In her past life, she'd been lead artist for a trashy mobile game!

And copying FGO of all things?

Couldn't they see how many competitors this game had buried?

"......"

At this thought.

Tang Yao couldn't help shaking her head with a laugh.

"Tang Yao..."

On the other side.

Unaware of Tang Yao's thoughts, Li Xue hesitated upon seeing her seemingly amused anger: "Do you want to cooperate with them?"

Unlike Tang Yao, she lacked future knowledge.

Frankly.

Claiming she wasn't worried would be a lie.

China's second largest internet company - a private enterprise titan.

If such a giant deliberately used underhanded tactics against Avalon...

Could Avalon really withstand it?

Yet agreeing...

Li Xue couldn't accept that either.

Her own shares didn't matter, but she didn't want Tang Yao constrained moving forward.

Hearing this, Tang Yao immediately shook her head: "No, tell them to get lost."

"......"

Li Xue looked surprised: "You're not concerned?"

"If this were right after launch, maybe I would be."

Tang Yao smiled: "But now? Honestly, I'm not worried... Let me be frank, Ms. Li - FGO is actually an anomaly among gacha games. Copying it means starting from the wrong premise. If they fully replicate it, they'll faceplant just as hard as "Dark Night Decree"... Besides, FGO's 1.6 story update arrives this summer."

"I'd love to see their expressions then.

Not to mention... Avalon doesn't just have one game now - remember "Dou Pai"?

A new genre is coming soon. Let's see who's faster - their copying or our profits!"