On November 15, 2016, free-to-play MMORPG Chaos Saga launched in Japan. A day later, its service suddenly stopped after character design similarities between Chaos Saga and Final Fantasy XI were discovered. The company behind Chaos Saga has publicly apologized.
Braeve, the publisher behind Chaos Saga, was able to confirm that the game had 24 copyright infringements of Square Enix’s characters and monsters from FFXI and FFXII.
Braeve and service provider DMM Games both issued formal apologies.
“Because of this work’s copyright infringement, we deeply apology for the significant trouble this has caused Square Enix,” Braeve said in an official statement. Braeve added that this was caused by insufficient staff to properly check the game’s assets. Braeve reflected on the trouble it caused and said it’s taking steps to prevent this from happening again.
In a statement Braeve put out late last December, in which it apologized to those connected to this release but not directly to Square Enix, it explained that the Chaos Saga was developed by a foreign studio named Lingyao. Braeve licensed the game to localize for Japan.
DMM Games, which released Chaos Saga, is also now apologizing, writing, “We would like to apologize from the bottom of our hearts to Square Enix and everyone at the company for all the trouble caused by violating Square Enix’s copyright.” DMM Games also stated it was taking steps to prevent this from happening in the future, ending its statement with another atonement: “Regarding this situation, we would like to offer another proud apology.”
Not sure why this has taken this long, but there you go.
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