Outplayed? KOEI TECMO files a lawsuit against the Singaporean company YOUZU

Gaming has become an important part of life for many people. Be it on a PC, console or cell phone. Everyone has something they like to spend their time with. Many developers go to great lengths to offer their customers something. However, there are also illegal ways to push their games, for example. This is precisely why the Japanese company KOEI TECMO has sued the company YOUZU.

What is KOEI TECMO anyway? It is a Japanese company that primarily develops computer games. These include well-known titles such as the “Atelier” series and “Attack on Titan 2 – A.O.T.2”. The company YOUZU (SINGAPORE) PTE. LTD is based in Singapore and mainly produces games for cell phones. It gained its fame through games such as “League of Angels: Chaos” and “Saint Seiya Awakening: KOTZ”. Even though they may be rather niche in this country, these games pass as full-price games on Steam and are also purchased.

KOEI TECMO has announced that it is now taking action against the Singaporean company for copyright infringement. It has filed a lawsuit and an injunction with the Tokyo District Court. The reason for this is that YOUZU has made unauthorized use of content and music from KOEI TECMO and thus infringed intellectual property rights. Specifically, this relates to content from their game series “Nobunaga’s Ambition” and “Taiko Risshiden”. The content was used to advertise a YOUZU game.

The company states that it has issued multiple warnings to the Singaporean company in the past. The reason was the same, namely for infringements. However, this has not had any significant effect. In addition, this time the defendant allegedly used KOEI TECMO’s company name in public without permission and the company also confirmed through descriptions that users were given the false impression that they were associated with the defendant app. For KOEI TECMO, this is an unfair action for all developers involved and it would add up to their efforts. The company will do its best to continue to act against such illegal actions and be “The World’s No.1 Digital Entertainment Company” for users.

However, it remains to be seen how the lawsuit will end. YOUZU, on the other hand, has not yet issued a statement.

Source: KOEI TECMO – Press release