Alleged Rainbow Six Copycat Game Shuts Down After Ubisoft Lawsuit

This month, Rainbow Six Siege developer Ubisoft filed a lawsuit against Google and Apple because of Area F2, a mobile free-to-play shooter developed by Alibaba and Ejoy. Area F2 has been taken down permanently, with refunds being issues to players who purchased items via microtransactions. It took only a few days after the lawsuit was filed for the game to be taken completely offline.

The notice of termination, shared by industry analyst Daniel Ahmad, stated that Area F2 would be taken offline last week, on May 20. Although the notice makes no mention of Ubisoft and its lawsuit, the timing suggests Alibaba and Ejoy decided against trying to defend their product in court. Players who made purchases during the game's beta period can apply for refunds, either through the Apple App Store, Google Play Store, or third-party retailer.

Ubisoft pointed towards Area F2's user-interface and end match score screen as particularly egregious examples of the game's copyright infringement. The French publisher also noted that it had pre-emptively warned Apple and Google of the game before it filed its lawsuit, but that neither took the game down in response.

Rainbow Six Siege is one of the largest multiplayer shooters globally, with Ubisoft building upon the foundations it laid with the game's original release in 2015. Recently two new operators (the game's playable characters) were revealed, while Ubisoft have confirmed that the game will make the jump to Xbox Series X and PS5 later in the year. Ubisoft rolled out a battle pass model for the game late last year, and recently said it's doing very well.

Recently we re-reviewed Ubisoft's shooter, awarding it a 10/10 in our Rainbow Six Siege review. Critic Mat Paget praised the game's complex action and rewarding action, saying, "It rewards patience, persistence, and teamwork, and over the past four years, Siege has not only become Ubisoft's crown jewel of multiplayer action but also one of the best first-person shooters ever made."