Chinese game producers have crossed the line in plagiarizing Korean games.
According to industry sources, The9, a Chinese game manufacturer, has created an imitation of Webzen's online role-playing game MU, called MU X. It plans to exhibit the game to the public on July 23.
The company that administers MU in China, The9, blatantly stole Webzen's characters without any contract or agreement.
Moreover, The9 has been expanding its cooperation with Korean companies after it failed to renew its World of Warcraft contract with Blizzard Entertainment. This is an alarming move that calls for stronger protection of the intellectual property rights of Korean companies.
The9 is known to have planned the creation of MU X two years ago. It displayed an image of characters that closely resemble those of MU with a short comment that says it has inherited the world of MU on the teaser site of MU X, mux.the9.com.
The Chinese name of MU X is The History of Miracles (Ki Juk Jun ki), a name quite similar that of MU, which is Miracle (Ki Juk).
The9 is scheduled to present MU X to the public for the first time at the Chinajoy 2009, the largest game exhibition in China that opens on July 23. The9 has even sent out invitations in China to attend the press interview. Webzen, the creator of MU, expressed distress at the situation.
However, the situation is further complicated by the fact that The9 is currently controlling the distribution of Sun Online, another creation of Webzen, in China.
"We sent an official document to The9, urging them to do a prior consultation," said a personnel at Webzen. "We will consider a countermeasure after evaluating the degree of resemblance after the exhibition on the July 23."
