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Call of Duty Warzone plagiarizes artist's work for the second time in a month (This time from an ex-IW employee)

poklane

poklane

Member
Oct 25, 2017
27,932
the Netherlands
Aaaand looks like they did it again, although maybe not as blatant this time. And to make it even worse, this time they've ripped off the game former Infinity Ward employee Robert Bowling (the Dr. Disrespect game) is working on. Also doesn't exactly help that this skin was added just a month and a half after Robert Bowling showed the character in their game.

View: https://twitter.com/fourzerotwo/status/1543070180795768832


View: https://twitter.com/charlieINTEL/status/1559275216907505669

View: https://twitter.com/ModenasHD/status/1559544457284014084

Looks like Robert Bowling also took notice

View: https://twitter.com/fourzerotwo/status/1559425179150721025

Prior Incident
www.resetera.com

Call of Duty’s Warzone new samoyed dog skin accused of plagiarism News - Activision/Blizzard

https://twitter.com/Polygon/status/1555661119649357824 Call of Duty's Samoyed skin has been removed the game and Activision has apologized after an artist said it was plagiarized.
www.resetera.com www.resetera.com
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Lobster Roll

Lobster Roll

signature-less, now and forever
Member
Sep 24, 2019
34,380
I'm at the point where I'm feeling embarrassed about the amount of time I spent playing the game. Back-to-back premium skin plagiarizing incidents. They really need to get this product back to being a grounded experience for Warzone 2.0.
 
Kalentan

Kalentan

Member
Oct 25, 2017
44,688
Lobster Roll said:
I'm at the point where I'm feeling embarrassed about the amount of time I spent playing the game. Back-to-back premium skin plagiarizing incidents. They really need to get this product back to being a grounded experience for Warzone 2.0.
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Crazy skins will be there Day 1 with Warzone 2. People want crazy skins. It's what sells.

As for the new skin being stolen... I guess there is a level of irony of a skin from an NFT game, you know, NFTs being that thing that can """"seemingy"""" go between games being copied and put into this lol
 
Lobster Roll

Lobster Roll

signature-less, now and forever
Member
Sep 24, 2019
34,380
Kalentan said:
Crazy skins will be there Day 1 with Warzone 2. People want crazy skins. It's what sells.
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I think we're seeing the issue with them going skin-crazy, though. They're reaching their creative limits and should ask themselves, "how can we make some more Call of Duty looking skins?" instead of trend chasing once more.
 
Kalentan

Kalentan

Member
Oct 25, 2017
44,688
Lobster Roll said:
I think we're seeing the issue with them going skin-crazy, though. They're reaching their creative limits and should ask themselves, "how can we make some more Call of Duty looking skins?" instead of trend chasing once more.
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What is a "Call of Duty looking skin" when Call of Duty skins have been basically everything at this point for years.
 
Lukar

Lukar

Unshakable Resolve - Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 27, 2017
23,413
poklane said:
Aaaand looks like they did it again, although maybe not as blatant this time. And to make it even worse, this time they've ripped off the game former Infinity Ward employee Robert Bowling (the Dr. Disrespect game) is working on. Also doesn't exactly help that this skin was added just a month and a half after Robert Bowling showed the character in their game.

View: https://twitter.com/fourzerotwo/status/1543070180795768832


View: https://twitter.com/charlieINTEL/status/1559275216907505669

View: https://twitter.com/ModenasHD/status/1559544457284014084

Looks like Robert Bowling also took notice

View: https://twitter.com/fourzerotwo/status/1559425179150721025
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

That is fucking blatant. Wow.

I dare say that "CoD plagiarizes someone else's work for the second time in a month, this time from an ex-IW employee" is thread-worthy.
 
Jawmuncher

Jawmuncher

Crisis Dino
Moderator
Oct 25, 2017
38,506
Ibis Island
I think they need to do some vetting on these skins.
It's not that hard to pay artists for their designs, the majority of original Fortnite skins literally come from that now.
 
Kemono

Kemono

▲ Legend ▲
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
7,669
For fuck's sake Activision. Just pay these artists for using their ideas. It can't be that much...
 
Lobster Roll

Lobster Roll

signature-less, now and forever
Member
Sep 24, 2019
34,380
KillLaCam said:
Plagiarized something from a NFT game makes it funnier (and sadder) to me
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Imagine going back in time to the Horse Armor DLC days and telling people, "you think that's weird, wait until one day when Activision caught plagiarizing $20 costumes from a game being developed by a studio co-founded by a disgraced streamer who got caught filming people using a public restroom and the imagery being ripped is a non-fungible token whose value is based purely on speculation".
 
Kalentan

Kalentan

Member
Oct 25, 2017
44,688
I will say if there is one thing that should be noted is that Cold War already had a skin like this:

CORRUPTED-CRANIUM.jpg


So while I'm not saying they didn't copy (or even if they didn't they should have realized how close it looks), this isn't the first time they've done multiple skins across games that had similar theming.
 
Mayjur

Mayjur

Member
Feb 7, 2021
809
Jawmuncher said:
It's not that hard to pay artists for their designs, the majority of original Fortnite skins literally come from that now.
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I'm surprised most developers don't resort to this idea. I can think of a few games that would've benefited greatly from taking this route, especially if the game in question is heavily pushing MTXs and has a passionate fanbase, like Overwatch for example.
 
Dark Ninja

Dark Ninja

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,071
Something is up because 1 month turnaround time for a character model/skin is actually pretty quick for COD and to hit such a tight deadline. These have to be outsourced months ahead also since this has to be whatever skeleton crew is even on Vanguar/Warzone at the moment.
 
Vincent Grayson

Vincent Grayson

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,862
Mount Airy, MD
So who is doing the plagiarizing in these instances?

Is it the actual people who make the skins going out and finding these things and ripping them off? Or are they basically handed a concept and make it into the in-game asset?
 

Deleted member 93062

Account closed at user request
Banned
Mar 4, 2021
24,767
Just a question and not accusing anyone of anything, is it possible that the artist had made that for IW before leaving and since Activision hadn't used it yet, the artist reused it for Dr Disrespects game?
 
Lukar

Lukar

Unshakable Resolve - Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 27, 2017
23,413
Sullivan said:
Just a question and not accusing anyone of anything, is it possible that the artist had made that for IW before leaving and since Activision hadn't used it yet, the artist reused it for Dr Disrespects game?
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Possible but extremely doubtful. Bowling left Activision a decade ago.
 
Kalentan

Kalentan

Member
Oct 25, 2017
44,688
Sullivan said:
Just a question and not accusing anyone of anything, is it possible that the artist had made that for IW before leaving and since Activision hadn't used it yet, the artist reused it for Dr Disrespects game?
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Probably not. Like I posted above, there is already a similar skin from Cold War, but red. It's more than likely the people who made that also made this skin since I'm pretty sure it's a different team at Activision who helps out with skins and such across the games.
 
DanteSparda504

DanteSparda504

Member
Nov 2, 2017
4,470
Birmingham, AL
Sure, they probably copied it….but it's not exactly a unique original design first thought up by FourZeroTwo. I've seen a variation of that exact same skin over the years in many games. This skin/idea could just be picked up and placed into Mass Effect, Titan Fall, Halo, Apex, Call of Duty, Ghost Recon, etc and nobody would ever really bat an eye.

I also feel like a month and a half is a pretty short window to design the skin, get it approved through all the different levels, get it added to the release window, and get it released.
 
Razgriz-Specter

Razgriz-Specter

Member
Oct 25, 2017
29,504
Lobster Roll said:
They really need to get this product back to being a grounded experience for Warzone 2.0.
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Literally day 1 skins
5uzl29eftna91.jpg


People have complained now 3 times in a row about skins being boring at launch, crazy ones are definitely coming.
after the Vanguard disaster probably sooner than later.


Though im curious if Warzone 2 will get exclusive stuff this time that doesn't fit mainline like Infinite Warfare characters
 
Lobster Roll

Lobster Roll

signature-less, now and forever
Member
Sep 24, 2019
34,380
Razgriz-Specter said:
Literally day 1 skins
5uzl29eftna91.jpg


People have complained now 3 times in a row about skins being boring at launch, crazy ones are definitely coming.
after the Vanguard disaster probably sooner than later.


Though im curious if Warzone 2 will get exclusive stuff this time that doesn't fit mainline like Infinite Warfare characters
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The image you posted is exactly what I'd want for the crazy end of the skins spectrum. It's over-the-top, but it's also not an Digital Skeletor or a literal anthropomorphic Samoyed. They still look like human operatives but have some Tacticool shit on them. THAT is the outer edge I'm ok with seeing.
 
SimplyComplex

SimplyComplex

Member
May 23, 2018
4,021
I mean, Cold War already had a bundle with a skin that looks very similar. Probably just an internal use of the model/design. The blue color really doesn't help though. It is strikingly similar
 
Razgriz-Specter

Razgriz-Specter

Member
Oct 25, 2017
29,504
Kalentan said:
I will say if there is one thing that should be noted is that Cold War already had a skin like this:

CORRUPTED-CRANIUM.jpg


So while I'm not saying they didn't copy (or even if they didn't they should have realized how close it looks), this isn't the first time they've done multiple skins across games that had similar theming.
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I feel like we've seen one even closer than that but I can't recall where, I thought it might be Spectre from BO4 but that didn't seem to be it.
 
TheEchosOfTheCyborg

TheEchosOfTheCyborg

Member
Feb 24, 2018
5,238
Saucycarpdog said:
Didn't Fortnite also plagiarize skins? Seems to be a reoccurring problem in the industry.
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Because Copyright is important to them as long as it only benefits them and not anyone else. This isn't just a gaming issue, it's a system issue where smaller business and individuals can't fight back against that level of money and control. Warner Bros is pretty notorious in this, whether it admitting they flagrantly abuse YouTube's DMCA system or stealing copyright material for Scribblenauts. Same with Sega, same with Nintendo etc.

It's one of the times where social media is actually useful because it gives creators a voice to use against major companies that do this and can encourage bad press and pressure against it but besides that, most creators simply don't have the money to combat it.

It's one of the reasons the current Copyright system is so broken; it was never made for companies THIS big and powerful in mind and NEEDS to be reformed and updated.
 
Magneto

Magneto

Prophet of Truth
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
14,449
Well, the game Bowling is working on will be filled with NFT's, right ?

Welcome to the NFT industry my man.
 
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