Respawn Entertainment and EA, developer and publisher behind the popular battle royale Apex Legends, have been accused of removing a character from the upcoming indie shooter. BulletVille.
Apex Legends, which could hit Switch next month, will be introducing the new character Fuse on February 2 as part of the eighth season. NOWWA, the team behind BulletVille, says it has found the character “fairly familiar,” citing his “eye patch, biker outfit, skull strap, mechanical arm, mustache, belt with grenades, gloves, chain, vest jacket with circle symbol on the back,” leg holsters, red / gray color scheme and characteristic gray streak of hair. “
The team points out that Hunter, a character from BulletVille, has been public for nearly two years and that Apex Legends’ Fuse “seems to share many similarities” with its own design. The allegations continue as NOWWA explains that BulletVille play tests were conducted with EA in October and November 2020 – something it says “reinforces the theory of a possible” inspiration. “
NOWWA shared the following statement on the matter to Nintendo Life, featuring an image of the two characters side by side:
“We’re happy that the Apex Legends team liked Hunter’s style so much that they wanted to recreate it in Apex Legends – we even hoped for a possible crossover! Nonetheless, we fear that as a small indie game producer whose game has not yet launched, we will be called a rip off of Apex Legends, which is certainly not true. “
Hunter can count on two weapons: a pistol and a missile launcher. Guess what Fuse’s ultimate ability is? ‘ NOWWA says. “A rocket launcher.”
We’ve reached out to EA’s Apex Legends PR team for comment and will update this story when we receive a response.