In Microsoft’s latest attempt to promote PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, they pulled off a big no-no. An ad was created that depicting a player making their way through some high cross, approaching a delivery crate. All the while, this was taking place on top of an Xbox One X. The ad is actually pretty well done and it promotes both PUBG and their Xbox One, at the same time.
However, there’s a bit of a problem here. It seems that the ad directly copies from a mock-up that was posted on PUBG subreddit. Created by user Macsterr, Microsoft’s ad is damn near similar to what Macsterr created and posted, over two months ago.
This is what Microsoft’s ad looks like.
And this is what Macsterr created.
As you can see, I I understand why the cause for concern here. They pretty stole his concept. Now while it isn’t an exact copy, the similarities are now. Clearly, Macsterr is frustrated here, as they should be. Someone took their work and used it for their own. I’d be upset as well. This prompted Macsterr voice their concern over on Reddit.
Remember my XBOX ONE AD CONCEPT? Microsoft just copied it!
byu/Macsterr inPUBATTLEGROUNDS
Thankfully, Microsoft has pulled the ad. In addition, Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb chimed in on the thread and stated that the ad is being investigated.
“Hey guys, I wanted to let you know that this is being investigated. In the meantime, our official channels have pulled down the asset in question. I’ll follow up with the OP /u/macsterr/ once I get more details.”
So what happened? That’s a good question and sadly, I have an answer. This isn’t the first time that someone’s design or material and used by someone else. And I highly doubt it will be the last. I’m not saying that sometimes people feel that others won’t notice or won’t care enough to compare. But it is likely that this is what happened. Someone who saw something they liked and just took the idea. Now, had they contacted the creator and offered to pay them for their work or give them credit, it’d be a different story.
However, and there’s always a however. The mockup does contain properties of Microsoft. Both the Xbox One and PUBG are licensed by Microsoft. Technically they aren’t in any wrong here and could flip it and say “We own these, so that’s that”.
Let’s wait and see what happens.
Meanwhile, PUBG on the Xbox One is selling extremely well. Despite the performance issues, the game has sold over one million copies and there are no signs of that hype train slowing down.
