Respawn Entertainment and EA, the developer and publisher behind the popular battle royale Apex Legends, have been accused of ripping off a character from the upcoming independent shooter, BulletVille.
Apex Legends, which could be released on Switch as early as next month, will feature the new character Fuse as part of its eighth season on February 2nd. NOWWA, the team behind BulletVille, says it found the character to be “quite familiar,” and pointed to his “eye patch, biker suit, skull belt, mechanical arm, mustache, grenade belt , gloves, necklace, vest with circular symbol on the back, leg covers, red / gray color scheme and a characteristic strip of gray hair. “
The team notes that Hunter, a BulletVille character, has been in the public eye for nearly two years and that the Apex Legends fuse “seems to share many similarities” with its own design. The allegations go further, as NOWWA explains that BulletVille’s game tests were held with EA in October and November 2020, which it says “reinforces the theory of a potential” inspiration.
NOWWA shared the following statement on the subject to Nintendo Life, attaching an image of the two characters side by side:
“We are happy that the Apex Legends team liked Hunter’s style to the point of wanting to recreate it in Apex Legends, we were even waiting for a possible crossover. However, we are afraid that, as a small producer of independent games, whose game has not yet been released, we will be called an Apex Legends scam, which is certainly not true.
“Hunter can count on two weapons: a pistol and a rocket. Guess what Fuse’s ultimate ability is?” NOWWA says. “A rocket launcher.”
We’ve contacted EA’s Apex Legends public relations team to comment and we’ll update this story if we receive a response.