Video game studio claims Kalashnikov stole MP-155 Ultima Design

Ward B, the developers of the next FPS Oceanic, accused Russian gunmaker Kalashnikov of outright stealing one of their gun designs for a new off-the-shelf shotgun.

In an interview with IGNWard B CEO Marcellino Sauceda said early last year a Kalashnikov representative contacted them. oceanic designs of hunting rifles – the Mastodon – and turning it into a real gun.

Ward B says they were promised full credit, a logo on the gun and even three of the finished goods shipped to their offices. Although eager to make the deal, Sauceda says when the time came to sign contracts, they never showed up and there was no further communication between the parties.

Sauceda was therefore surprised to see Kalashnikov later release his own “weapon kit” which he said looked a lot like the Mastodon, but without any credit or collaboration.

This is what the Mastodon looks like, as designed by artist Gankhulug Narandavaa:

And here’s Kalashnikov’s MP-155 Ultima, which the company has even gone so far as to say was “inspired by video games” in its initial marketing of the weapon:

While not identical, which leads Ward B to believe the design was stolen, other than their initial correspondence, these are elements of the Mastodon that also appear on the Ultima but “are decisions. taken for cosmetic reasons in Oceanic, but have no practical purpose in real life.

Then there is this:

For Quarter B, the deciding factor was the inclusion of a small footprint on one side of the Ultima – a horizontal L-shape with a small line emerging from the corner (also seen in the gallery above). It’s a small detail, but a Sauceda sees it as crucial, as the team have used it as a visual motif not only on the Mastodon, but on several Oceanic guns. “Nothing about it gives stability to the receiver, it has nothing to do with it because everything works through the internals,” Sauceda explains of this design choice. “The fact that they included this withdrawal is a bit … it’s sketchy, because I have the impression that they have the [Mastodon’s 3D model] and they forgot to exclude this part – because they removed it from the other side with the bolt.

In their defense, Kalashnikov representative Maxim Kuzin said the original deal failed because the independent game’s interim financing and payment structures meant there was no clear ownership of the weapon designs. , and so they worked with “another designer from Russia” instead.

Room B has since sent a cease and desist to Kalashnikov, and uncovered what they say were shady shenanigans where Kuzin tried to buy the Mastodon design directly from the artist. They also had the added weirdness of seeing Kalashnikov concede the design of Ultima to another video game, Escape From Tarkov. Which means, when it comes to Quarter B, their gun design managed to turn into a real gun and then end up in someone else’s video game before he had a chance to appear in theirs.

You can read the full story, with all of its legal shenanigans, To IGN.