Ward B's Oceanic game is gaining some buzz for its cool gun designs, but a rather strange situation has emerged: it's accused real-world gun manufacturer Kalashnikov of stealing one of its gun designs for a real firearm.
Quite a few shooters make use of real-world guns such as the impressive arsenal seen in CS:GO. Naturally, other games -- especially futuristic games -- cook up their own gun designs such as the wonderfully destructive arsenal in Borderlands 3 or Wasteland 3's W.A.S.P. Gun (which is a gun that fires wasps).
Most of the time, video games take their inspiration from real-world guns. Recently, however, there's been a case of a gun manufacturer allegedly taking inspiration for a real-world gun from a video game -- and the Oceanic game developer claims that this manufacturer stole their design.
The Curious Case of Ward B's Oceanic Game and Kalashnikov
As IGN details in a lengthy report, Ward B's Oceanic game has been in private development for some time. Not much has been seen in the way of gameplay, but the website has been cranking out impressive renders of its futuristic firearms for a story that is set in the mid-2200's.
According to Ward B CEO Marcellino Sauceda, he was surprised to see a contractor for Russian weapon manufacturer Kalashnikov -- best known for the AK-47 and its variants -- reach out to him inquiring about turning one of the game's weapons into a real-world gun. The Mastodon shotgun (seen above on the left) looked pretty cool and contractor Maxim Kuzin liked the design so much that he proposed a deal: Kalashnikov would license the design from Ward B for a real-world gun, and Ward B would change the in-game branding of the gun to reflect Kalashnikov's implementation of its design.
That's where things got a bit weird. According to Sauceda, his team was initially excited by the reveal of Kalashnikov's Mp-155 Ultima (seen above on the right), assuming that the deal had gone through. Unfortunately, Sauceda says that Kuzin and Kalashnikov stopped responding to his e-mails.
Sauceda followed up with several legal moves, first by sending a cease-and-desist notice and then following up with a DMCA takedown for online media. Kalashnikov contested the latter claims, demanding that Ward B prove that the design was theirs. Ultimately, this legal battle went nowhere for either side and Ward B gave up on pursuing the matter entirely.
The matter seemed settled, albeit unfavorably, until a new development earlier this year. Escape From Tarkov introduced a new gun for the game with the debut of the Kalashnikov MP-155 Ultima in the game.
The IGN article is well worth a read, especially because it has a gallery that details comparisons between the two guns; a particularly damning point highlighted by Sauceda are several similar aesthetic features that have no impact on the firearm's performance. As for Ward B, it's going to keep quietly working on Oceanic and will provide more details about the game once it has something more substantial to show the world -- you can learn more about Oceanic on its official website.
What do you think of the gun designs in the Oceanic game? What's your favorite gun in a video game? Let us know in the comments below!
