Final Fantasy 14 Song Claimed as "Unimaginative Theft" by Band

Nu-metal band Powerman 5000 claimed a song in Final Fantasy XIV Online: A Realm Reborn was an "unimaginative theft," saying it sounds similar to their hit "When Worlds Collide." You can hear both songs in the videos below.

The industrial rock band's frontman Spider One (whose real name is Michael Cummings) made the claim on the band's Facebook page (via Polygon). The post said that the "level of unimaginative theft" was "mind-blowing."

"I mean, this is When Worlds Collide!" he explained. "Using something as inspiration is one thing, but a straight up rip off is another! Did they really think no one would notice?"

"When Worlds Collide" is one of Powerman 5000's most well-known songs, being used in video games such as Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD, and WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw. The movies Little Nicky and Mission Impossible 2 also feature the song. You can listen to it in the video below.

The similarities were originally brought up on the Final Fantasy XIV forums by user Kerwin. Director Naoki Yoshida responded to the thread, and you can read his full response below.

"Regarding the Music for the 2nd Phase of Containment Bay S1T7

I have read through your comments concerning the BGM for the 2nd phase of the Containment Bay S1T7 battle with Sephirot, and I would like to personally explain how the track was conceived.

As most Final Fantasy fans already know, Sephirot (the Fiend) is a legacy boss character who originally appeared in Final Fantasy VI. When considering how to portray Sephirot's return in Final Fantasy XIV, we decided to pay tribute to FFVI by working VI's 'Battle to the Death' track into the Containment Bay S1T7's first phase, while opting to create an FFXIV original for the second.

Building upon the motif of Sephirot as a representation of the World Tree, to create this Final Fantasy XIV original track, we further incorporated story-driven themes of death and a warped obsession with life, all while utilizing a musical genre─industrial rock─which we believed would provide substantial emphasis to the message.

Industrial rock is a popular genre that can be further divided into numerous sub-genres. Countless songs from these genres have been released worldwide, and I have been made aware of an allegation regarding similarities between an existing track and the track created for the 2nd phase of Containment Bay S1T7. However, track composer Masayoshi Soken, has also stated to me that he was unaware of the track in question while working on this Final Fantasy track.

We hope that you continue to enjoy Final Fantasy XIV battle content."

Cumming has since posted another Facebook update, saying the band is not filing a lawsuit and it wasn't a "cry for attention or publicity."

"The original post was a two-sentence observation about a piece of music that was way too similar to be coincidence," he said. "Since then it has been taken as some sort of declaration of war. Oh, Internet..."

He then said that he's returning to his "normal M.O. of not participating in social media."

What do you think? Is the Final Fantasy song an "unimaginative theft," or is it just an unusual coincidence?